Dropped the Ball
by Luvtowritefics247
Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long. Very Slight AU.
1. Chapter 1: Of Collisions and Parties

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.**

**Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.**

**This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!**

**Warnings: This will be rated high T for content, language and mild adult situations. It may be bumped up to an M rating for later chapters.**

So enjoy, first HA on this account, but all my old ones were crap : P

* * *

**Cast List**  
(Because I can)

Ok, sooo this is a personal choice, because while I love cartoons (especially this one) I enjoy having real faces in my mind occasionally. So, while I won't go into details about every aspect of their clothing for every day, I figure the cast I have chosen for the characters will also represent how they shall dress unless I find it necessary to point out something specifically.

Also, this is just MY personal opinion on how I'm viewing these characters. If you don't like the actors I've given, by all means, picture who you want. This is just for fun.

Helga…**Dianna Agron**

Arnold…**Zac Efron**..Yes, haha. But I think he embodies Arnold's personality perfectly. Just picture him blond :P

Gerald…**Donald Glover**

Phoebe…**Carmen Soo**

Grandpa Phil…**J.K. Simmons**; ya, not really the voice but he's funny in that quirky way.

Grandma Gertie…**Meryl Streep**, because she is awesome and could pull it off.

Miles…**Aaron Eckhart**

Stella…**Rachel Weisz**

Big Bob Pataki…**Jeffry Dean Morgan**

Miriam…**Michelle Pfeiffer**

Olga…**Pairs Hilton**, because her voice is perfect.

Rhonda…**Megan Fox**

Lila…**Elena Satine**

Sheena…**Keira Knightly**, but a very young one with a slightly higher voice.

Nadine…**Hayden Panettiere**, just imagine she's super tan though ha.

Sid…**Mark Salling**, because the way his Glee character is totally reminds me of how Sid would act at that age.

Stinky…**Cory Montieth** only because him and Mark have good chemistry together and he's super tall and can do a really good confused face, ha.

Harold…**Channing Tatum**, because he's like the only really big guy who is still young and he has the right head shape for Harold. Plus, I don't think Harold would stay fat forever. : )

Eugene…**Chris Colfer**, because from the moment I saw him he just screamed Eugene even though he wouldn't tuck his underwear in his shirt EVER haha.

Curly…**Shia Labeouf**, because he could do crazy so awesomely.

Wolfgang…That jerk Boyfriend from 17 Again ha.

Arnie…**Chace Crawford**. Not saying he's ugly, just that no one would expect Arnie to turn out attractive.

Any one else I mention I'll either say so when they come up or They aren't a big enough part to find someone : P

* * *

** Chapter 1**  
"Of Collisions and Parties"

Lady Gaga blasted through the not-so-quiet summer day of Hillwood, sharing Helga's sentiments it seemed on receiving yet another call from her father, "What?" she hissed into the receiver, trying to manage holding the phone and the numerous grocery bags at the same time. She made a point to roll her eyes before answering, "For Pete's sake I'll get home when I get home, Bob. You calling every five minutes won't…Yes, I have your Yahoo Cream Soda and your precious pork rinds, don't worry. I'll be home soon! Crimeny!" She exclaimed as she snapped the phone shut, her voice having a similar quality to that of her sister's, yet was still so completely Helga it was almost comical if it weren't for the fact if you laughed, you died.

Helga prided the fact that she was an excellent multi-tasker, and people were too frightened of Ol'Betsy to tell her she was rather mistaken unless the multitasking involved verbally, mentally and physically abusing someone. So, as she attempted to walk, put her phone away and keep the grocery bags from falling, she gave up looking where she was going and before she knew it all that hard work was for nothing and she ended up sprawled across the sidewalk anyways.

But that wasn't her fault. Oh no. It was whoever ran into her, and she was going to tear into them like a-

"I'm so sorry, miss-wait, Helga? Helga, is that you?"

Helga could only stare blankly for what seemed like forever. Those green eyes told her all she had to know, and she had to refrain from slapping herself. Instead, she played aloof, "In the flesh, Football Head. I'd have hoped this bowling me over would have faded with puberty. Ya gonna help me up or stare goofily at me all day, Arnoldo?"

Arnold shook his head, "Oh! Uh, sorry Helga, I was just so, well, surprised to see you. That's all."

She ripped her hand from his after she was vertical again, even though her body was screaming for his contact, "Ya well, I guess I'm surprised too. Didn't know you were coming back. Jungle get to rough for you?"

It was a lie. Of course she had known he was coming back. Her heart hadn't settled since she had gotten the news and now here he was! Standing there in all his deliciousness, talking to her. Talking to her.

Asking her something.

Oh.

"Huh?"

The side of his mouth twitched upwards, "I said, did you need some help with those?"

She glanced blankly down at the mess of groceries, "Well doi, Football Head! You're the one responsible, of course you should help, sheesh."

Not even batting an eye, Arnold bent down to pick up the fallen items, and Helga tried to as casually as possible have their hands touch accidentally.

"Still live in the same house I take it?" Arnold asked while gathering up some of the bags.

"Wouldn't dream of anywhere else," Helga answered flatly and walking ahead of him.

"Well, it really is good to see you, even under the circumstances of meeting up again," Arnold offered, his sideways smirk making her want to swoon just a little.

"Pft, cut the crap, Arnoldo. It was only, what? Five, six years since you last saw me?"

He blinked, "That's a long time Helga. We were kids the last time I saw you."

"Ya, how did you know it was me anyways? And if you say its because I look like my sister I will beat you to a bloody pulp."

She said it in such a way where he didn't exactly think she was kidding, but he chuckled because it was Helga and he actually had missed her, "No, I recognized you from your school picture. It's last years, but obviously it was you."

"Whoa, picture? What picture?"

He gave her an innocent look, "Lila sends me pictures every year of everyone. Usually they are of everyone hanging out, but also school pictures, too."

"Oh, I see. How thoughtful of Li-la to do that. Actually, kinda creepy if you ask me."

"Well I wrote you, you know. And sent pictures every now and then to Gerald so it wasn't like-

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Football Head. We're here anyways. Thanks for helping with the bags, it was the least you could do."

"Oh, well are you sure you don't want some help taking them inside-

"Nah, I got this. Now hand the bags over and beat it," she went to grab them from him and for a moment their faces were so close it was nearly painful not to prolong it, but she pulled away and attempted to open the door with her foot, when Arnold merely opened it for her. She graced him with a scowl, because that's what she did, and went inside without looking back, kicking the door shut. She practically dropped the groceries in the kitchen, no longer caring and certainly not listening to Bob's yelling as she made a beeline for her room. There she spent a few minutes screaming into her pillow, hardly believing that Arnold was back.

* * *

**Two Weeks Later…mid August.**

"Hey, doll! I'm assuming you've heard all about this party I'm throwing this weekend right? You are coming, aren't you?" Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd asked, standing there in a red mini that showed off her legs to perfection.

At least, that's what other guys were noticing. Arnold, however, was looking at her face, "Wouldn't miss it Rhonda. It'll be my first high school party, I'm really looking forward to it."

"Fabulous! I'm so glad to hear it," Dark blue eyes showed a genuine smile as she handed him an envelope, "Invitations are not necessarily required, but I always give a few out to people I hold near and dear to me."

Arnold smiled, "Well, thanks Rhonda. I'm honored."

She shrugged prettily, "Think nothing of it, Arnold! Well, I'd better get going, see you later!"

Turning back to his locker and chuckling, Arnold gathered up his books, checking to make sure he had the right homework assignments with him before shutting the locker. It was already halfway through the first week of school, and Arnold was getting all caught up with what everyone had been up to. Gerald had kept him up to date with big things, but it was definitely good to talk to everyone again.

Walking into his first period, World History, he saw Lila across the room in her assigned seat. He gave a smile, which she returned, before taking his seat. Lila had definitely grown up pretty, but he was hardly surprised. She still was as sugar sweet as he remembered, too. She had apparently gotten really close to Eugene and Sheena, which surprised Arnold at first, but after thinking about it, he realized it made sense. They were some of the nicest kids he knew, no wonder that they would get along so well. Lila was also a cheerleader for the Hillwood High Ravens, of which Rhonda was the captain. That, however, most certainly didn't surprise him.

"Move it, bucko!"

Arnold looked up to see an unfortunate sophomore be shoved out of the way by none other than Helga G. Pataki. To his credit, the guy recovered quickly and hurried to his desk as fast as he could. Helga made her way to the seat diagonally behind Arnold, flopping down unceremoniously into her chair.

"Good morning, Helga!" Lila greeted from across the room.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Helga snipped.

Lila appeared undeterred by Helga's tone, and happily went back to her conversation with the person seated next to her.

Arnold turned to face the fair-haired girl, "Morning Helga, how's it going?"

She looked at him from the corner of her eyes, "Its morning."

Before he could try again at conversation, the teacher walked in and began speaking.

Arnold had almost expected spitballs to start hitting him any second, but just like the previous days, he was proven wrong.

* * *

**Saturday Night…Rhonda's Party.**

"Are you sure this punch is ok, Gerald?" Arnold asked, looking around at all his classmates, the majority of which looked buzzed or completely trashed. Harold, flanked by Sid and Stinky, came shouting through with a keg above his head. At this, a group of who-knows-how-many kids started following him and yelling something about a 'Keg stand'…whatever that was.

"Man, I'm telling you its fine! There's a spiked punch bowl and a normal punch bowl. You got the normal one, I promise."

"You really believe a bunch of high schoolers are going to leave a punch bowl alone?"

Gerald shrugged, taking a sip from his cup, "Why not? They got they're spiked one don't they?"

"And where are Rhonda's parents? I mean-

"Arnold! Just drink your punch!"

Arnold sighed and took a tentative sip and found it to taste fine. After all, he'd know if there was something off about it, right?

"Hey, I'm gonna go call Phoebe. I told her I'd check in with her around ten," Gerald said before patting him on the shoulder and walking off.

It wasn't long before Curly ran into him and started talking. In fact, Arnold was unable to shake who he discovered to be a very drunk, opinionated Curly, and Gerald found it too hilarious to offer help after he had finished his phone call. But, it wasn't all bad; after Arnold had gone back for his third cup of punch, and Curly had started rambling on about-really-who-knows-what?-Arnold realized he didn't really mind.

* * *

**10:36pm…**

Helga could see very clearly what was going on, and wondered where the heck Geraldo was. After looking around, she discovered he was entertaining himself by videotaping Harold, Sid and Stinky's beer pong game. Well…more like beer tennis, as they were using Rhonda's tennis court instead of a table. Good Lord..

Sighing, she turned back to see how Arnold was fairing. The prognosis was not in his favor.

He was pretty trashed, and it annoyed and saddened her. The poor yutz..

And yet…

She had been drinking tonight as well, but unlike Arnold this wasn't her first high school party, and she wasn't naïve. But, she was buzzed, and she intended it to get no farther than that. Still, she really couldn't be held responsible for any thoughts she might have in her buzzed state, could she?

Her eyes flitted back towards the staircase where she saw yet another couple creep up. Her eyes darted back to where Arnold was.

No, no, there's no way she was thinking about that!

Well…she was thinking about it, but not actually thinking about it. Like, not thinking about taking advantage of Arnold in his drunken state or anything.

Nope.

She wasn't thinking about that at all. Because that would be morally wrong. She knew that!

But, she was going to keep an eye on Arnold to make sure he didn't get himself into any trouble.

And to make sure no other girls were going to try the same thing that she wasn't thinking of!

A crash brought her out of her thoughts, and when she tried to focus on Arnold, she panicked when she couldn't locate him. It was then that she realized he was the cause of the crash, and was now having a hard time standing up straight.

She sighed and began to make her way over to him, seeing as how Curly would be of no help and Tall Hair Boy was useless. Arnold was probably ready for either a good puke or a good pass out, either way Helga hoped there'd be some room upstairs that wasn't occupied.

* * *

**10:43pm...**

"Okay, here you go you lush. A nice quiet bedroom where you can pass out," Helga said as she practically dropped Arnold onto the bed of some spare room in Rhonda's mansion.

"Thanks, Helga. You're the best."

She rolled her eyes, her buzz making her head feel pleasantly light despite how annoyed she was. But then she remembered her thought from earlier. The boy was trashed. Probably wouldn't remember a damn thing in the morning…and even if he did, by the looks of him it wouldn't be much. Worst case scenario, she'd tell him she was really drunk too. It wasn't a complete lie, it just wasn't a complete truth.

No. Was she actually entertaining the idea of sleeping with Arnold? Losing her virginity to Arnold? The boy she's loved practically her entire life?

Wait. When you think of it that way, that's not too bad.

No! He was drunk for Pete's Sake. She couldn't take advantage of him like that!

She glanced down at him lying on the bed, arm over his eyes. Oh, those arms…

"Hey Arnold?"

"Whoa, you said my name."

She sat on the bed, suppressing another massive eye roll, "Arnold."

He sat up, trying to focus his eyes on her, "Yes?"

"You are absurdly drunk."

"Yes I am."

"I am pretty drunk myself."

He peered at her, "You don't seem drunk."

And that's when she kissed him. Long and hard.

After she pulled away, Arnold said, "Okay…maybe you are drunk."

Helga felt herself smirk. Yes, she was going to take advantage of him. And in the morning when she'd feel guilty she'd blame it on the alcohol, like the song says you should.

She pulled him to her again, kissing him a bit more and feeling him start to respond felt amazing, drunk or not.

Pulling back for a slight breather she heard him speak up, "Helga?"

Crap, if he is sobering up now, that would totally suck.

"Yes?"

Oh, he was looking at her with that wonderfully sexy half lidded gaze, "I think I kinda like this."

"Really?" she whispered, all too pleased.

"Mmhmm," he nodded, kissing her now.

"So how about this then."

"What?" he murmured against the flesh of her neck.

"Let's have sex."

He stopped and looked at her, "…right now?"

"Uh huh," she said, already pressing him down to the bed and sliding over him.

"Well…that doesn't really sound like something I would do. I don't think this is right," but his hands were moving over her, he probably didn't even realize what he was doing, but it only pushed her forward.

"Don't worry, it's alright Arnold. I'm totally okay with this."

He stared up at her, seriously contemplating it while at the same time looking every bit in the drunken stupor that he was before responding, "Yeah, okay."

She smiled widely, feeling her skin light on fire wherever he touched coupled with the alcohol in her system was dizzying. She thought in the back of her mind that she wasn't sure how she'd survive tonight, actually having sex with Arnold. The thought alone made her stomach flop. She shoved any doubts to the back of her mind.

It was just one night after all.

* * *

**Ok! My first HA! fic in probably forever, but I've had this idea for probably a year now, but just never fully committed to it. I haven't seen too many like this, so I think it'll be fun to write. I was inspired by both Juno and Glee, but the story will be no means go in the same direction as they do. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please R&R! Critique is appreciated, flames are not :)**

**L2WF247**


	2. Chapter 2: Of Hangovers and Phone Calls

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.**

**Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.**

**This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!**

**Warnings: This will be rated high T for content, some language and mild adult situations. It may be bumped up to an M rating for later chapters.**

So enjoy, first HA on this account, but all my old ones were crap : P

* * *

**Chapter 2**  
"Of Hangovers and Phone Calls"

**1:21am…**

"Ooh, I feel like I've been hit by a truck," Helga groaned as she rolled over, only to roll into a passed out Arnold. She choked back a scream, unconsciously pulling a sheet up to cover herself.

Staring at Arnold in complete shock Helga whispered, "Oh holy mother freaking, sonofa-oh crap…oh…crap!"

In an instant she was gathering her clothes, thankfully finding them somewhat relative of each other, and dressing as fast as she could, convinced Arnold would wake at any second. Her only train of thought was that she had to get the heck out of there, not even taking into account that whether she's there or not, Arnold could very well remember _everything_.

"Oh, please no! God, Helga you're such a freaking moron!" she berated herself while pulling on her sneaker. After grabbing her small purse she quietly opened the door, but paused when she began to close it. She let herself glance over at Arnold, who, despite the fact that he'll probably want to kill himself in the morning, looked so perfect now. Sleeping, chest bare, hair a mess…she would hold that memory forever, no matter what tomorrow-rather, today-brings.

With that image committed to memory she shut the door quietly behind her and began to slink down the hall, listening for the slightest indication that she'd been caught. She could hear music at a pretty acceptable level coming from downstairs, and she tentatively peeked over the banister. A number of passed out classmates were down there, some were still awake, playing a half-butted game of beer pong or just talking; whether it was coherent or not was unknown to Helga.

She figured she'd be able to sneak by without anyone ID-ing her, but she had to move quickly. If Rhonda or one of her minions caught her, it would only be the matter of 'who?' that remained a mystery, but certainly not the what. Her hair and disheveled, wrinkled clothes would more than give her away.

After eight heart stopping minutes, Helga finally made it outside. From there she bolted to the nearest alley way, catching her breath and congratulating herself on a job well done, "I am _such _a ninja, it's not even funny."

Reaching to check her phone, she saw that she had been severely missed. Seeing a total of 14 missed calls, 5 voicemails and 19 new text messages-all from, who else, Phoebe. Yeah _right_, like her parents would even notice she had been out. She called Phoebe and it had barely rang once before her friend had picked up.

"Oh my gosh, Helga I was about to call the police!"

"Sorry Pheebs-you didn't call my house did you?"

She heard a sigh, "No, I knew you'd be at the party tonight. I was just so worried! I couldn't get a hold of you at all! Like that hadn't been scary enough, Helga Pataki! And then…"

Helga frowned, "And what?"

Phoebe eventually replied, speaking carefully, "Well…well, Gerald called earlier and he was freaking out because he couldn't find Arnold," when Helga didn't respond, Phoebe hastily added, "I hadn't meant to tell you, because I didn't want you to freak out. I suppose Arnold is fine. Someone told Gerald that Arnold passed out and was taken up to a room to sleep it off. Gerald said he tried to find him, but all the rooms were, um…occupied, and he said there are just so many rooms in that place that he'd go home and wait up. He said he was just going to keep calling until he hopefully got a hold of Arnold. He said if he doesn't hear back from Arnold by morning, he's going to go back and start busting down doors."

"Uh..um well-

"Don't freak out Helga, I'm sure Arnold is fine. Gerald was assured that Arnold was just drunk, and passed out. Someone took care of him."

"Yeah, I'll say," Helga grumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing, Pheebs. I'll…I'll talk to you tomorrow. It's important, but it'll have to wait. I'm sorry to have worried you."

"You _are _alright, aren't you Helga?"

"Yeah! I'm…fine. I gotta go, night Pheebs."

"Goodnight Helga. I'll text you if I hear about Arnold, ok?"

"…Thanks Phoebe. Bye."

Helga sighed, as she pocketed her phone. What had she done?

By the time she had snuck back into her own room, because of course, Big Bob and Miriam were oblivious to the fact that she had probably been out, she actually began thinking of what she had done. Despite the fact that she had totally taken advantage of the person she cares most about, her stupid self couldn't keep from remembering how amazing it had been to be that close to him. Sure, it hadn't exactly gone…well the poor kid was drunk! Can't blame him or anything! But he had still been so sweet, even if he was drunk. And it had felt amazing for a good part of it. It was mildly uncomfortable towards the end but…well then it had been over. Some of it was a bit fuzzy, but she could still feel every caress, feathering touch, and amazing kiss he had bestowed upon her. And when she fell asleep for the second time that night, it was all she dreamed about.

* * *

**2:53am…**

Arnold woke up and instantly wish he hadn't.

He felt like his head had split open, he felt sore all over, wherever he was smelled weird, and oh good Lord, did his head hurt!

He groaned, fighting to see straight, only to realize he was going to be sick. Luckily, his eyes landed on the open door of what looked to be a bathroom. Getting there as quick as possible, but feeling like he'd just gotten off a boat-which didn't help the nausea-proved easier said than done. Thankfully, he reached the toilet with hardly any time to spare before purging himself for what felt like an eternity. His body began to cool down and Arnold was grateful for it, but all too soon he just felt cold and…drafty. It was then that he realized he was completely naked.

Startled by this new information, Arnold clumsily made himself back into the bedroom and looked nervously around. What he saw only made him feel sick again. His clothes were tossed everywhere, and the bed sheets hardly looked as though he had just crawled in after stripping down for a good night's sleep.

Arnold groaned and walked dejectedly back to the bed, and sat on the edge. He dropped his throbbing head in his hands and tried desperately to remember just what the heck had gone on earlier that night, but he couldn't come up with anything more than a few snippets of memory. Flashes of pale skin, distant whispers of a soft voice, a distinct birthmark that sort of looked like a crescent moon stained upon the silky skin of an inner thigh.

Arnold's cheeks burned hotly, as he simultaneously tried to stop thinking about it yet desperately tried to see more of what he had done that night and with who he had done it with. Lifting his head up and seeing his hands, he felt like he could practically feel soft, gold hair running through his fingertips. Almost seeing the face the hair belonged to, Arnold's thoughts were cut short when out of the corner of his eye he could see his phone lighting up from within his discarded pants' pocket. Grabbing at his boxers from the floor and tugging them on, he went and picked up the jeans and pulled the phone out.

"Hello?"

"Where in the _hell _have you been, you asshole!"

"Gerald?"

"_No_, the Tooth Fairy! I've been outta my mind wondering what happened to you man! I thought I was gonna have to call Sherlock Motherf-

"I'm sorry, Gerald I was just…a little, indisposed I guess."

"Well ain't that a diplomatic way to put it."

"…Well, _you _were the one that said the punch was fine-

"Oh for God's Sake! Man, where _are _you? What happened to you, Arnold? One minute you were talking to Curly-

"-Real funny, _I_ wasn't doing any talking-

"-and the next minute, you're gone! Some kid told me you needed to pass out or hurl or something, and someone had taken you up to a room to crash. Now, I _know _I done went and searched every room I could that didn't sound like some freaking was going on, and I couldn't find you anywhere! Where you at in that place, Arnold?"

Throughout Gerald's rant Arnold had attempted to get dressed, and set the phone down to pull on his shirt before picking the phone up, "Um…hold on a sec and let me find out."

Arnold made sure he still had his wallet-and everything in it-before going to the door. Looking out he noticed that it was only a few doors down from the main staircase, "I was a few rooms down from the staircase, Gerald."

There was a long pause before Gerald spoke up, "Naw, Arnold I don't think that's right. I _checked _those and they were in use, if you get my drift."

"…Yeah I get your drift," Arnold answered slowly.

"Wait…whoa, no, no, _no _way!"

Arnold sighed, "Yeah, I think…Oh man Gerald I think I…that I was with someone tonight."

"Hold up, you think? No, you don't think, bro. You _know _that sort of thing."

"Ok, yeah I _know _I was with someone tonight, but Gerald I don't remember who!"

"…say what?"

"I'm serious Gerald! I have no idea who I was with!" Arnold insisted while keeping his voice down. He didn't want to alert anyone to his presence; he had just gotten back from San Lorenzo, but most of the people at the party tonight he didn't know. He didn't want people to think the wrong idea of him; he wasn't this guy! He didn't _want _to be this guy. And what about the girl? What did she think? Who _was _she?

"Look, it'll be alright man. Just…just get over to my place, and we'll try to figure it out."

"Okay, thanks Gerald," Arnold put the phone back in his pocket and made his way quietly out of the mansion. The last clear thing he could remember before waking up had really been talking to Curly. Aside from the little flashes of what happened after, he really remembered nothing else. What if he wouldn't remember who the girl was?

Arnold swore himself off of high school parties forever at that last thought…and alcohol.

* * *

**Sunday morning…**

Helga awoke with a slight headache, but counted that as a minor casualty from the night before…but then she got up and, "Oh effing…ow!"

She was sore in places she didn't know existed, and sorer in places she knew very well existed, which made getting up and moving would be interesting. Eventually Helga had managed a hot bath and got dressed before heading over to Phoebe's. She had gotten a text message earlier letting her know that Arnold had turned up safely.

Oh God.

A nervous sweat broke out on her skin as she knocked on her best friend's door. She felt her heart pounding in her throat when she sat down on Phoebe's bed, not answering the questions her friend kept asking. In a split second Helga practically jumped up from the bed in a panic before announcing, "I had sex with Arnold!"

There was a long silence as the two girls just stared at each other, both wearing their own looks of shock.

"Wh, what?" Phoebe stammered.

"I…I slept with Arnold last night."

Phoebe immediately stood up, to which Helga blurted, "We were both drunk! Well…I mean Arnold was completely obliterated, and I had a pretty good buzz on and so, that buzz I told you about? Yeah, well I started thinking in my inebriated state that it'd be a good idea if me and Arnold had sex and Arnold drunkenly agreed and so we did!"

Phoebe blinked several times before speaking, "So…let me see if I understand correctly: _You _were the one to help Arnold to a room where he could sleep it off?"

"Uhh…yeah?"

"But after escorting him to the room, you realize the opportunity you have."

"Yes, but Phoebe I had been drinking! If I had been sober I would have _never _gone through with it-

"And in realizing the situation, you proposed your idea to Arnold, who we've established to be severely under the influence, correct?"

Helga sighed, "yes."

"Helga, do you realize what you've done-

"Yes! Okay? Yes, I know what I did was wrong and I wish I could go back and change it but I can't! I'm a horrible person, who took advantage of the guy I've been in love with since I was three. I _stole_ from him, and I robbed myself but I can't take it back!"

Helga hadn't even realized she had been crying, but Phoebe enveloped her in a comforting hug and for a while all she did was cry.

Phoebe had meant to ask her something about last night with Arnold, but Helga had been so emotional that it had slipped her mind.

Not that it would've done any good to ask Helga at this point.

* * *

**Monday morning…First period.**

Helga had been freaking out…to put it lightly.

She had been on pins and needles all day yesterday, convinced Arnold would text, call, show up at her house demanding what the hell was wrong with her and that she's a terrible person, and how could she do a thing like this?

But nothing.

And somehow, that was worse.

Because now she was waiting for class to start-she had actually gotten to class early for once-and to see if Arnold would give any indication at remembering Saturday night. She waited with baited breath and finally Arnold walked in, even briefly looking over at her before sliding into his seat and pulling out his things for class.

She couldn't believe it! No, it had to be too good to be true!

Helga sat in an ball of anxiety all period, waiting for class to be over so she could make sure her prayers were, in fact, being answered. Finally, the bell rang and everyone began exiting the classroom. Timing it just right, Helga managed to nearly be bumped into by Arnold, who of course, quickly apologized.

"It's fine, Football Head," she spoke as nonchalantly as possible as they walked in step with each other towards the door, "So…how was your first high school party?"

Arnold visibly tensed, "Oh…it was, um…interesting. What I can remember, at least," he added, looking both ashamed and sheepish.

"Yeah, that's what it seemed like," Helga pushed forward, avoiding his eyes as much as possible, "I saw Curly chatting you up."

At Helga's smirk, Arnold grimaced, "Oh geeze, yeah that really didn't help the situation."

"Ha, don't worry, I've been in your position before. Curly can be rough to deal with, drunk or sober, but he's definitely a clingy drunk, _that's_ for sure."

Arnold chuckled, "I'll say…"Helga felt him grow apprehensive, before carefully asking, "Sooo, you uh…saw me being held hostage by Curly, huh? You…you didn't happen to see who I was with after did you?"

Helga strained to keep an innocent face, "Uh, no I didn't. I, um…I left around 10:30 or so. I'd made my socially required appearance, and headed home. Why?"

Arnold rubbed the back of his neck as they stood over by the lockers, "Oh, just…you know, trying to piece together the rest of my night. Didn't want the only thing I remember to be Curly ranting and raving at me about…I really don't know what, but there was a lot of it."

Helga laughed nervously, "Nope, sorry Hair Boy I can't help you there."

And when Arnold smiled so genuinely at her, it felt like her heart was being strangled. She struggled to stay focused as he spoke, "No problem, I guess I've just learned my lesson on trusting 'safe' punch at a high school party. I'll see you later, Helga."

"Yeah, yeah whatever Arnoldo," Helga brushed him off before turning for her next class. Her prayer had been answered; Arnold didn't remember a thing about that night between them. Or, at least that it was with her, since Helga's sure not even someone as dense as Arnold wouldn't realize what had happened in that room.

But it was her secret to keep, and no matter what it was going to stay that way!

And there wasn't _anything _that could change that.

* * *

**Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you guys seem to like it so far! This chapter wasn't supposed to end here, but it really would've been waaaay to long, and this was a good stopping point. Please let me know what you guys think! And thanks for all the hits I've gotten already! Its awesome! :)**

_L2WF247_


	3. Chapter 3: Of Consequences and

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.**

**Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.**

**This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!**

**Warnings: This will be rated high T for content, slight language and mild adult situations. It may be bumped up to an M rating for later chapters.**

**Sorry for the wait! This one is uncharacteristically long as an apology :) Easily would've been 2 chapters, but I think it all goes better together. Lots of stuff that I suppose could veer into OOC...hopefully doesn't, at least too much. And if it seems like this is going a little fast paced? Mehhhh, I'm okay with that. If I took it slow with this, then OOCness probably really would start to happen. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Don't worry, more Helga/Arnold stuff will start next chapter :)  
**

**

* * *

****Chapter 3**  
"Of Consequences and Rumors-that-aren't-Rumors"

* * *

**3 Weeks Later…Tuesday.**

It had been three weeks since That Night, and Arnold still gave no hint that he remembered who the hell he had…well, 'played Monopoly' with; and that was fine with Helga! That was A-Okay in her book! Though she still was more than worried that her good fortune would run out and that one day he'd wake up and remember _everything_. And the worry was really starting to get to her, to the point where she was losing sleep at night. Well, it wasn't that she wasn't sleeping, but it must've not been very restful, and coupled with the stress of whether or not Arnold would remember and then absolutely hate her; Helga was just tired all the time now. It only really began to be a problem over the past couple days, but she needed to get over this anxiety before she started passing out in class. She nearly did today in Mrs. Pete's class; although really, that's to be expected of anybody, so maybe that isn't out of the ordinary.

All Helga knows is that when she gets home, she's taking a nap. Then she'll contemplate homework afterwards, but more than likely she'll just eat dinner instead before going back to bed. A girl's got to have her priorities after all.

She gets home and nearly gags at whatever the hell Miriam has attempted to cook, before going upstairs to crash on her bed. When she finally wakes up, she discovers that 3 hours have past and her stomach is screaming at her for food. Not really bothered by her lengthy nap (she had resolved to not do her homework anyway, too much effort for a Monday) she headed down to the kitchen to appease her stomach with whatever they had that could pass as food. Settling for cottage cheese, it doesn't take long for Helga to start to feel a little nauseous and decides that the cottage cheese has a good chance of being a little past it's shelf life. It takes a moment for the sick feeling to pass before Helga just resolves to shower and then go back to bed. She doesn't know why she's so dang tired but chalks it up to it being Monday and anxiety. By nine o'clock she's already back in bed, passed out as though she hadn't slept just a couple hours before.

In the morning, Helga wakes up feeling no more rested than she did yesterday, and she's instantly in a bad mood. The next thing she notices is that Miriam left out last night's dinner (Not very surprising) and whatever it had been, it smelled _awful_. Like, really, _really_, bad. _Crimeny_, she could smell it from up here! Attempting to push through the stench, Helga went to her closet to get dressed, but knew in half a second that the smell was too much, and rushed to her bathroom. After she was sick, the smell of what had been left of the cottage cheese only made her sick again. She sat down on the cool tile for a while, waiting for her fever-flushed skin to cool back down before even thinking of moving. A small, thread of panic flitted through her mind before she mentally shook it off. She woke up too fast, she hasn't been resting to well, and Miriam is just a space case and left out food that went rank over night. Bad combo, so just move on with life. Take a shower. Get dressed. Put on a gas mask and text phoebe on the way to the bus stop to bring an extra power bar or something. No. Big. Deal.

* * *

**8:52am, 1st Hour...**

Maybe she was sick. Sure, that was it.

Food poisoning; that cottage cheese _had _gone over, and she was suffering the consequences. _Whew_! Glad we cleared _that _up!

Helga felt satisfied with that conclusion as she flushed the toilet and let herself out of the stall. She angled her head over the sink so she could catch some water in her mouth to help rinse it a bit. She'd bum some gum off of Phoebe before next period. Crisis averted.

Everything was fine.

* * *

**Thursday…5:15pm**

Everything was _not _fine.

Helga paced her bedroom, waiting for Phoebe to finally just _get _here already! She had called her at 3:30 for Pete's Sake! It can't take that long to get to the supermarket across town and back, right? Helga was going out of her-

She heard the doorbell and shot out of her room and down the stairs before Miriam could so much as blink. Well, she was in a drunken stupor, so that didn't exactly count for anything. Whatever, she answered the door pretty freaking _fast_.

"_Finally_! I've been going out of my mind waiting for you!"

"Well, sorry Helga, but you asked me to go to the one-

"Yeah, yeah whatever let's just hurry up already!"

They quickly went up to Helga's room and Phoebe handed her the contents from the paper bag, but Helga was apprehensive to take it.

Observing Helga just stare at the box, Phoebe persisted, "Helga, you need to go take this. If you think there could be a chance-

"_No_, I'm just…you know following protocol. Like, when there's a murder and the detective has to rule out the shmoe's wife, even if it's pretty obvious she didn't do it, he's still gotta…rule her out. That's _all _this is. I mean, _please _Phoebe, I'm not _pregnant_."

But she still didn't take the box. Phoebe motioned for her to take it, practically had to shove it into Helga's hands, "Well then let's just get this over with, alright?"

Helga, looking nothing short of terrified, only nodded and glanced down at the box. She made her way into the bathroom and a couple minutes passed before she came back out.

"Is it-

"I have to let it sit for 2 minutes," was all Helga said and they stood in silence.

After the appropriate time Helga all but dragged her feet back into the bathroom to retrieve the test. Refusing to look at she held it up, "I…I can't look at it! Phoebe, you tell me what it says!"

"No!" Phoebe leapt back and gave Helga an apologetic look, "I'm sorry but Helga…You need to be the one to see it."

Helga took a deep, shaky breath before looking down at the stick. Phoebe watched carefully, but Helga didn't seem to give any sign of what the results were. After a moment of staring at the test, Helga turned on her heel and headed back into the bathroom where she dropped the test in the trash.

"Helga…? Was it negative?"

"I'll say," Helga grumbled with no real gruffness behind it.

"Well, at least we can move on-

"No, Pheebs I'm pregnant. It was positive…I'm pregnant."

And Helga burst into tears before Phoebe's brain had finished processing what she had said.

* * *

**Wednesday. Second week of September; 4 weeks pregnant.**

**10:55am; Passing Period between 3rd and 4th Hour…**

"Alright ladies, who has some good gossip I can work with here? We're a month into school and I haven't started any good rumors yet," Rhonda pouted before checking her appearance in the mirror. Nadine merely rolled her eyes before glancing around at the small huddle of girls all desperate to please the self proclaimed queen of the school.

"Oh, well _I_ heard Betty Collins sent this text message-

"No, sexting is _so _freshman year," Rhonda declared.

Another girl spoke up, "Oh, well Nikki Blair told me that _she _saw Mr. Elmsfield at that bar over on-

"_Please_, who _cares _about what our teachers do that pass as some sort of life outside of school? Seriously, what are you girls _doing _with your life? Is this, like, really all you've got for me?"

"Um…Well that girl you're always in rivalry with, Helga Pataki? She's been sick-

"_Oh my God_, you girls are _so _lame! So _what _if she's sick-!

"No! I mean, she's been getting sick…I think."

"_Ugh_, Nadine _why _do I put up with this?"

"Really Rhonda!" the girl insisted, "For the past, like, week she's been leaving in the middle of 1st Hour. And then, yesterday I was using the restroom after lunch and I heard a girl getting sick. I knew it was Helga because we have last hour together and I recognized her shoes."

"Oh em gee," Rhonda breathed.

Another girl spoke up, excitedly, "You think she could be pregnant?"

Rhonda gave an unladylike snort, "Helga G. Pataki? _Pregnant_? Oh, please. She wouldn't put out to re-populate the earth if she had to. She could kick most of the school's ass, but she's a huge prude. She's never even dated anyone. No, I fear that this is actually serious. I think Helga is bulimic," at the collective gasp, Rhonda only nodded, "I mean, it makes sense. 1st hour _is _after breakfast…she might not have time to purge at home. And then, of course, after lunch."

"So…how do you want to spread it around-

"_No_! I just told you this is serious!" The girls stared at her in shock, "We'll spread the rumor that she's pregnant."

"_Wait_, what?" Nadine questioned, aghast.

"Well, _obviously _she isn't. I'll let that rumor fly around, eventually it'll be clear that she's not. I told her I'd get her back for the time she posted that video of me on WeTube!"

Nadine gave her a slanted look, "That was back in the 8th grade."

Rhonda glared, "And I've been waiting for an opportunity since! Now, we'll be even and after this rumor blows over I'll assist in finding her some help with her problem. Bulimia is not something to be taken lightly."

"Isn't saying she's pregnant only going to make it worse for her then?" Nadine challenged.

Rhonda, looking decidedly miffed, responded, "I _said _I was going to get her help, _didn't_ I?"

Nadine could only shake her head, "Whatever Rhonda."

Brushing it off, Rhonda pointed to one of the girls, "You, hook up with Sid or something tonight. Before going to far, let it slip about Helga; it's a nice segue. He can't keep anything to himself so I'm sure he'll spread it but most importantly he'll tell Harold and we all know how much he and Helga can't _stand _each other. He'll tell all his football buddies and by tomorrow morning most of the school will know, and by the end of the day, _everyone _will know and that's _including _faculty."

Pleased with her plan, Rhonda dismissed her little followers and went off to class with a spring in her step. A new rumor _always _put her in the best of moods.

* * *

**Wednesday Evening…**

The rumor of Helga's pregnancy spread like wildfire, just as Rhonda had planned it to. No one was better at starting a rumor than Rhonda, and _boy _was this a _good _one!

Sid, actually a little jealous that someone had gotten lucky with _Helga_, who he had had the hots for last year, wasted no time in texting Stinky and Harold, plus a few others because no _way _could he keep this to himself!

Harold told the whole football team, of course, and how it spread from there no one could even began to figure out.

Stinky had texted Parker and Pea Pod Kid, verbatim, 'Wilikers! Helga G. Pataki is knocked up! That really bites!'

Pea Pod Kid had been working on a project with Lorenzo, and he showed him the text promptly, commenting how terribly terrible the situation was.

Parker was helping with a sound check over at a dance studio, his first part-time job, where Eugene was practiced. Considering no one else from school was in the class, Parker shared the news with the so-called jinx who was so surprised, he tripped into a pile of props. But he was okay.

Eugene called Sheena after dance class and told her, and Sheena was instantly concerned and began asking things like has she been getting morning sickness? How far along was she, and who's the father? Eugene didn't have any answers, but the conversation was cut short after Eugene tripped and dropped his phone.

But he was okay.

Sheena had been in the middle of chatting with Lila on Mybook, and immediately told her the news. Lila was ever-so certain that whether it was true or not, she'd support and help out in any way she could.

Gerald heard it from Fuzzy Slippers, and…well no one knows where Fuzzy Slippers heard it from, but Gerald called Phoebe to ask but all he kept getting was her voicemail. A short while later he received a text message from her saying, 'Can't talk right now. Busy. Love you.'

Three guesses as to what she might've been busy with, which was alright because he didn't need two of them.

Instead, he called up Arnold.

"_Helga_? Helga G. Pataki is _pregnant_?"

"That's what I said, man."

"I'm not sure I believe that Gerald. Who'd you hear it from?"

"My man Fuzzy Slippers."

"Well…how do you know he's right?"

"…Don't _never _question Fuzzy Slippers sources!"

"_Sor_-ry…but excuse me if I'm skeptical. I like to give the benefit of the doubt. Besides, even if it _is _true, she's going to be going through a lot. We should…I don't know, try and be there for her?"

"What the hell for? That's what the _father _is for, dude. Let it be _his _problem."

"Fuzzy Slippers have any idea who _that _might be?"

"…_I_ don't like your tone."

Arnold rolled his eyes, "Whatever, Gerald. Excuse me if I'm not quick to believe the worst in people-

"-Ha, I'm sorry, was that _news_?-

"-But it's really none of our business, whether it's true or not. Either way, I feel bad for Helga for all the crap she's probably going to be getting over the next few weeks."

"Oh well, _snap_, Arnold here just said the c-word! I'm so shocked. Lemme take a moment to recover myself-

"Good_night_, Gerald," Arnold huffed before snapping his phone shut.

He decided it was time to go to bed. The past couple weeks he had had a few fleeting thoughts about that pale gold hair, and maybe those thoughts might have concerned an old tormentor…but no. She had said she'd left early, and if she _was _pregnant. Well…that didn't bear thinking about. Besides, no drunken or sober Helga would let him so much as touch her, let alone…erm, 'discuss politics' with!

Still, if she _was _pregnant, he'll help in any way he can. He didn't have to go to high school long to figure out she was going to need as much as she can get.

* * *

**Later that evening…**

Helga doesn't find out via text message.

But Phoebe does.

Helga is over at Phoebe's house, attempting not to fall asleep over her chemistry homework when Phoebe gets the text message. It's from Katrinka, and she's wondering if the rumors about Helga are true. From that point on, things don't look so favorable for Helga.

In the midst of all the mood swings she's been having, her hormones settle on a sort of melancholy feeling as she responds to Phoebe's concern over the situation, "They were bound to find out eventually, Pheebs. Pregnancy isn't exactly the best secret keeper. I was just…ousted a lot sooner than I had hoped."

"Helga…you've put it off long enough. You _need _to tell Arnold!"

Helga shot her a fierce glare, "I've told you, _Phoebe_, I am _not _telling him! Its better this way; I've already ruined _my _life, and I'm sure I'll be a grade-A screw up for this kid…there's no need to ruin his life also. His ignorance allows for him to actually _live _his life."

"But Helga…its not your right to decide for him-

"Like hell it isn't! Crimeny Pheebs, we _both _know what he'd do if he found out! He'd drop _everything _to do the _right _thing. This is _my _fault, and I'm not going to have him suffer for it. I've been a pain in the ass for him his whole life, I could do him a favor for once."

Phoebe sighed dejectedly, "Helga…"

Helga shook her head firmly, "No. I've made my decision. So quit trying to talk me out of it. If I'm going to be reduced to this school's Juno, I'd like to have at least _one _person I can turn to."

Phoebe wrapped an arm around her friend, "Of course I'll be there for you, Helga."

"Good, because I haven't even _thought _of how I'm going to tell my parents."

* * *

**Friday; 11:20am, 4th Hour…**

As she was checking herself over in the mirror, Rhonda was startled when Helga came bursting through the bathroom door and rushed into the nearest stall. Rhonda stood in shock, letting this bit of information turn in her head. _Wait…did that mean…?_

Rooted to the spot until Helga came out, looking pale and ashy (plus, the daisy yellow dress doing absolutely _nothing _to help the situation) Rhonda could only stare. Helga caught her eyes and glared darkly.

"Cut the Bambi-just-saw-mommy-get-shot look, Princess. I _know _you're the one that started this."

Rhonda only blinked and looked perplexed, "Hmm, but…I thought you had to _make _yourself gag. But you were, like, on a _mission _when you came in here-

Helga quirked a brow, and sported a look of perplexity herself, "_Why _would I _make _myself hurl? It's not the most pleasant experience in the world."

"Well…no, but that's part of the sickness. You're bulimic."

"_What_?"

"What?"

The two stared at each other for several seconds before Rhonda's eyes widened, "_No _freaking _way_…"

"If you thought I was bulimic…why in the _hell _did you start the other rumor!" Helga demanded.

"Because I knew you'd never get knocked up! The only explanation would then be that you have an eating disorder…but, you…_oh my God_! You really _are _pregnant?"

Helga only stared at her blankly before responding with, "You, Rhonda, are an ass hat."

And with that, she left.

* * *

**Saturday Night, 7:12pm…**

Helga would rather be vomiting repeatedly right about now.

And, considering her condition, it will probably happen later anyways.

Joy.

But, for now she is stuck with her oh-so-favorite night of the week: Family Dinner Night. Otherwise known as: Olga's-Home-So-Shove-Helga-Into-The-Background-Oh-Wait-They-Do-That-Already-Dinner.

Yeah. Joy.

It's bad enough that a couple years ago _Olga _moved back to the city, _thankfully _into her own place, but _unfortunately _she's over all the _freaking _time! While that in itself is a suck fest on a weekly basis, the fact that Helga has had the _worst _week of her _entire _life doesn't help matters. What with finding out she was knocked up by the love of her life during a drunken tryst that said love-of-life has no recollection of, having her pregnancy blown wide open by mass hysteria texting at the command of Princess _Rhonda_, getting sick after every meal, _peeing _all the dang time, getting rude stares from her teachers (as well as fellow peers, but come on, really? Really teachers, _really_?), deciding firmly to raise the baby on her own and _never _telling Arnold in the hopes he can actually have a life, _crying _over _everything_, and now dealing with this God-awful dinner.

Wasn't getting knocked-up punishment _enough_?

_Ugh_, stupid question. Don't bother answering.

"Hey Olga, pass the mashed potatoes, would ya?"

"Daddy, the mashed potatoes are over by Helga," Olga chirped.

"Yeah, that's what I said. Hand 'em over already, huh?"

"Here _Bob_," Helga sneered before going back to pushing her meal around her plate.

Helga sat there in her annoyance as Big Bob and Miriam gushed over Olga's latest accomplishments. What were they? Sheesh, who the hell _cared_? _Helga _sure didn't, that was for sure. The sooner dinner was over, the better because Helga felt everything that had been building up close to exploding-

"Hey girl, go grab me another yahoo soda would ya?"

"Its _Helga_, dad. _Helga_. H-E-L-G-A!" Helga was standing now, and practically fuming. It was the last, _stupid_, straw! "If its so damn hard to remember, maybe you should've named me something that wasn't so close to _Olga_!"

Big Bob went red as the two women went silent, "You watch your mouth, little lady, or I'll-

"What? You'll _what_? _Ground _me? Yeah, and then forget about by tomorrow's paper! You're a joke!"

Bob stood up so quickly his chair tipped back, "Now you listen to me Helga-

"See! The only time you get my name right, is when I'm in trouble! Because heaven for_bid_, your precious _Olga _ever be associated with something unpleasant! Well…it seems that perhaps I've finally done something that will help you get my name right for the rest of your _life_!"

"In about 3 seconds, you're gonna-

"Helga, sweetie, just calm down-

"_Please_, baby sister, you're making daddy-

"_I'm pregnant_."

It was almost as if someone had hit the mute button, and all the three of them could do was just stare at her.

Helga felt panic bubbling up her throat, but a strange and sick sensation of triumphant victory dashed through her, and her mouth opened before she could even think, "_Yeah_, that's right. I'm _pregnant_."

"Helga, you better quit kidding around real fast…" Bob said darkly.

Helga grinned nastily, "Ain't no joke Big Bob. I'm pregnant: knocked-up, I've got a bun in the oven, my eggo is Preggo, I'm in the family way, I'm expecting, _I'm pregnant_! And you know what? Its all _your_ fault! Since I was never shown any love growing up, I just had to go find some _elsewhere _and now my situation is _delicate_."

And then Big Bob exploded.

"_Get out_! I'm not going to have some, some _whore_-

"_Daddy_!" Olga shouted, appalled.

"Quiet!" Bob yelled before turning his attention back to his youngest, with his eyes blazing, "Who's the father?"

"Like I'm going to tell _you_," Helga seethed before stomping off.

"_Get out_! I want you _out_, and don't think I'll want to see you anywhere near here again-

"_No_!"

"B, _wait_! We can't-

"You be quiet, Miriam!"

"I think it's the first time we can ever agree, oh great Beeper King!" Helga jeered, "Nothing would make me happier than getting my happy ass out of here! I should've gotten knocked-up _ages _ago!"

"As far as I'm concerned you're no daughter of mine!"

"Music to my ears!"

"_Enough_!" Olga shouted, "Daddy how _dare _you! She _is _your daughter and she's in need, and you're turning her away! She _needs _us!"

"You just stay out of this Olga," Bob commanded.

Olga stood firmly, "No. _No_, I will _not _stay out of this!" She turned and faced a surprised Helga, "Get what you need, you'll stay with me."

"_WHAT?_" father and daughter both simultaneously asked.

Olga only nodded, "You heard me. Daddy, it hurts me too much to express into words that you are basically disowning Helga. But _I_ don't disown her. I _love _her, and I'm going to help her. Whether you like it or not. So, you'll have to decide if this is worth losing _both _of your daughters. Hurry and go get your things, Helga. We'll leave as soon as we can."

Rendered speechless, Helga went to get the bare necessities for now, and then went home with Olga.

As far as she was concerned, things couldn't have gone better…considering the circumstances that is. But, _come on_! Big Bob Pataki's precious _Olga _siding with his shameful, pregnant daughter? Good _stuff_! It wasn't like Helga had been surprised by being kicked out-she _had _had a suitcase full of clothes already packed, just in case- but had been planning on crashing at Phoebe's for a while. Having Olga stand up for her was just a bonus.

But now she had to _live _with Olga.

Win some, lose some. Right?

* * *

**Sunday Afternoon…**

"So we're sure we've got everything done for tomorrow?" Arnold asked as he walked down Sheena's stoop.

Their other group partner, Candice, nodded enthusiastically, "Definitely! Everything should go nice and smooth!"

"Yeah, and Ms. Schmaltz doesn't grade too hard anyway. I don't think we have anything to worry about," Sheena added.

Arnold smiled, "Alright, well I'll see you guys tomorrow then."

"Are you sure you don't need my mom to give you a ride home? It'd totally be no trouble!" Candice asked breathily.

"Nah, I'm fine. it's a nice day out, so I don't mind walking," he raised a hand in farewell, "I'll see you guys later!"

"Bye Arnold!" Both girls said.

Once he was halfway down the block, Candice turned to Sheena, "He is _so _cute!"

Sheena just rolled her eyes and went back inside.

Arnold continued walking, taking his time and enjoying the weather, when he spotted Helga turning a corner up ahead with a pretty large box in her arms. Curious, Arnold sped up and caught up with her.

"Hey Helga, how's it going?"

"_Arnold_! I mean…uh, what are _you _doing around here Football Head? You stalking me or something?"

He chuckled, "No, I had been working on a group project and was walking home. What about you? This isn't exactly your neighborhood either."

"Yeah well home ain't home anymore, Arnoldo. And its not like I _planned _on walking all the way here. I missed the city bus that would take me basically a block down from Olga's, but I couldn't stick around so walking it was."

"I didn't know Olga lived down here again."

"Yep. Fun times."

"So, are you bringing her some of her stuff or something?" he asked, noticing the various personal possessions and bedroom items within the box.

"Nope, these are my things. Big Bob kicked me out," Helga grunted.

Arnold mentally faltered for a moment before he responded, "So…its true then."

"What? That I'm knocked-up? Yep."

Arnold frowned, "Well then, Helga…You shouldn't be carrying heavy things," he said before scooping the box out of her grasp.

"Hey! If I wanted your help, I'd ask. I'm not handicapped, Football Head."

Arnold tossed her a slanted look, "My mom's a doctor Helga. So don't bother, I'm not going to let you carry this box."

Helga sighed and looked away, "I really wish you weren't so nice all the time."

Curious that she sounded more upset than annoyed by that, but having nothing to say, Arnold only shrugged and shifted the box to get a better grip.

"So…how far along are you?"

Helga gave him an irritated look before facing forward again.

He sighed, "Look, I know you hate that I'm trying to be nice but…well considering that your parents threw you out and you're living with your sister…I just want you to know that if you ever need help with any-

"Well I _don't_, Football Head. Certainly not from _you_. I can handle this on my _own_."

Arnold gave her an vexed stare, "Oh come _on_, Helga! No one can do this by themselves! And…I mean, you really _won't_. You've got Phoebe and your sister. And I'm sure the father will-

"He's not involved," she said harshly, and seemed to picked up her pace.

Matching it, Arnold replied, "Oh. Um, does he just not _want _to be-

Helga sighed in exasperation, "My_ God_, okay _no_. The father doesn't know, and it's going to stay that way! Now butt out, Arnold!"

He stared at her in shock, "Wait, you're not going to _tell _the father? But…but Helga that's-

"_Look_, I've successfully ruined my life. No need to make like the Titanic and take the poor guy down with me! I mean, a life stuck with me? Please, even _I'm _not that cruel," Helga seized the box from Arnold's grasp, "We're here."

She stomped up the stoop and kicked at the door a few times before turning back to face him. Despite the very clear rage she seemed to have, Arnold couldn't help but notice that either the pregnancy, the anger, or both, was making her look insanely stunning. Sure, Helga was hot by most standards, but with how she was looking now it made him feel a little breathless.

"Stay out of this, Arnold. I don't _want _your help. Go live your _own _life, and leave me to mine!"

"Helga…!" But Olga had already opened the door. She looked momentarily surprised but Helga shoved her out of the doorway before kicking the door shut.

Arnold stood there for a few moments, not even really sure _what _to think. He could get Helga being fiercely hormonal and all but…

What the heck had _he _done to get the brunt of it?

He shook his head. Better not to take it personally. It probably was just hormones, and he was there to take it out on.

Satisfied with that conclusion, Arnold continued on his way back home.

* * *

**Welp, there you go! The next chapter probably won't be nearly as long but it is a doozy! Review and tell me what liked or didn't like! :) **

**L2WF247**


	4. Chapter 4: Of Truth and Not Handling It

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.**

**Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.**

**This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!**

**Warnings: This will be rated high T for content, language and mild adult situations. It may be bumped up to an M rating for later chapters.**

**So enjoy, first HA on this account, but all my old ones were crap : P**

**Omg, you guys are so SPOILED! I can't even BELIEVE how obnoxiously long this chapter ended up being! But, it's a good, intense one; I hope you like it :) You actually get to meet Arnold's parents in this chapter! I hope I did good job at giving them _some_ form of personality. PLEASE let me know how I'm doing with this! Also, It might not be as quick for the next update, but I'll try to get it out as soon as I can. Hopefully, this one will keep you happy til then :)**

**Enjoy!**

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* * *

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**Chapter 4**  
"Of Truth and Not Handling It"

* * *

**Monday Night, 8:50pm. 5 weeks pregnant…**

"So Helga," Olga asked from across her modest kitchen table, "How was school?"

Helga graced her with a blank stare, "Just dandy. I got all sorts of _lovely _support cards from all my teachers, and my fellow peers were beside themselves in their enthusiasm for me. It was grand old time."

"That's wonderful, Helga-

"I was being sarcastic, _Olga_! Today was miserable! And you know what? _Tomorrow _will be miserable! And the next day, and the _next _day, and the-

"Okay, Helga I get it!" Olga exclaimed before shifting her food around, "…you didn't have to be so…so _rude_. I was only asking."

Helga sighed, "Look, I know. I'm just…a little pregnant, I guess. It's making me cranky…er," she added as an afterthought.

Olga nodded sympathetically, "It's alright baby sister. I understand, and I want you to know that I fully support you in your decisions."

Helga raised a brow, "Yeah, I know. So you've told me."

"Right!" Olga looked over at her sister a bit demurely, "So…are you going to tell me who the father is?"

Helga thumped her silverware down, "Olga! I've already _told _you. I'm _not _including the father in this!"

"But I didn't ask that! I was just asking _who _it was. Can't you tell me _that_?"

"_Why _is it so important that you know?" Helga inquired.

"Well, gosh because I'm _curious_! You've never really given any indication that you were interested in a boy," Olga looked away, "I…I guess I'm not the _best _observer of your life. As much as I would've claimed to be. But…even still, I'm curious as to _who _you would've been comfortable enough, even if you _were _intoxicated, to be with."

Helga snorted, "What does 'being comfortable' have to do with how I spent my time one night?"

"I know you don't let yourself be comfortable with people…" Olga replied quietly.

Olga's answer caught Helga off guard. It was…very perspicacious of her to notice.

Helga slouched into her seat with a sigh, "Its…the father is Arnold Shortman."

Olga squeaked in surprise, "_Really_? I, I would've _never _guessed that you two-

"Yeah, yeah you and the entire school!"

"But…what does he say about your pregnancy? I mean, if everyone is talking about it, _surely _he must think-

Helga rolled her eyes, "The kid doesn't even _remember _that night. My secret is safe and sound."

"But…Oh, Helga are you _really _positive that you don't want to tell-

Helga fixed a glare on her sister, "For the last time, _yes_. Yes, I'm sure I don't want him to know. And Olga, you have to _swear _you don't tell _anyone_. Not a soul, you hear me?"

Olga sighed dejectedly, "Alright baby sister. If that's what you want."

Feeling more relaxed, Helga went back to her dinner, "Yes. It…it _is _what I want. It _is_."

* * *

**Tuesday Evening, 5:40pm…**

Olga had every intent of keeping that promise.

Really, she did! No where in her mind was she _intentionally _planning on telling anyone. Her baby sister asked it of her, and she didn't want to go back on it. Honestly, if she _had _a choice to listen to her baby sister's request or not, she'd of _course _choose to listen to her!

That point had to be made perfectly clear.

Because…

"Daddy! No, _daddy_, please would you just _listen_? You're being _so _unreasonable about all this!" Olga spoke into the phone. Helga was currently taking a shower before dinner, and since her moods were overly sensitive, Olga figured that if she wanted to speak with their dad, for now it should probably be done in private.

After listening to her father's shouting from the other end, Olga interjected, "She _didn't_ do this on purpose to get on that awful show, daddy! How could you even suggest…she was upset! I think a girl has a right to be upset in that situation, and daddy you weren't helping!…No, I _do _agree, Helga _had _said some things out of line. And she shouldn't have spoken to you like that but-No…_No_, that isn't what I'm saying. Daddy, you're not _listening_. She needs the support of her family….Well, now you see…you see daddy, she isn't having the father involved…_Daddy_!…_Stop _that, you don't even know him, you can't just say things like that! He is _not _some dead beat, he doesn't even know that Helga's-Of _course _I know he is!…Because I know him, he's a very…Oh for goodness' _sake_, daddy! Arnold is a _very_ good person and he-_No _daddy, he is _not _an _orphan_! How can you be so insensitive? No, daddy I just can't talk to you when you're like this! I'll call you later in the week when you've had some time to calm down!" Olga hung up the phone and had not even realized that she had even spoke Arnold's name.

Olga had been so serious about keeping that secret…that she wasn't even aware she had just blown it.

* * *

**Wednesday Morning, 7:20am…**

"Hey, shortman! You're heading off to school a little early this morning aren't you?" Phil asked as he saw his grandson, with backpack in hand, rush past him.

"Oh, yeah well I need to get gas for the Packard, and traffic can be kind of iffy, so I didn't want to take any chances."

"And remind this old fogy why you don't like the bus again?"

"Gerald has really early football practice before school, but has 20 minutes of free time before class. We only have lunch and 6th period together, so we hang out a little in the morning. The bus pretty much gets there _right _as the bell rings most of the time, so this way I can get there on my own time."

"Aw, you and Gerald have got that…Uh, whatdoyoucallit? Bromance? That's sweet."

Arnold rolled his eyes and smirked, "Whatever, Grandpa. Quit looking up things on Urban Dictionary."

"I just got the app for it on my new smart phone; it's great!"

"Bye Grandpa!" Arnold yelled over his shoulder as he made his way to the kitchen where his mom and dad were having breakfast, "Bye Mom, bye Dad!" he kissed each of them on the cheek before whirling around to head for the door.

"Bye sweetie! Have a good day!"

"Bye son, I'll see you after school."

"'Kay!" Arnold pulled open the door, letting the animals back in before stepping out himself. The next moment he saw his grandma bob down beside him before bobbing back up. Startled, Arnold looked up and saw his grandmother had fashioned some sort of bungee-cord and was now utilizing it, "Uh…bye Grandma!"

"Have fun fighting the Nazi's, lieutenant!"

Glancing back warily at her, Arnold tossed back, "Yeah, just be careful grandma!" She merely cackled and went on with her business. Arnold could only shake his head as he got into the old green car and drove off.

When Arnold pulled into the gas station and got out, he couldn't help but notice it was across the street from Big Bob's Beeper Emporium. As he started filling the tank, the thought of how sad it would be to not have the support of his parents if he was in Helga's shoes crept into his mind. Sure, they'd be disappointed, but…they'd never actually turn him away. And, even with what he did know and suspect about the Pataki's family dynamics, he never thought that even _they'd_ turn Helga away. It made him wonder if the situation were different, and it was _Olga_, would they react the same-

"Hey! Hey, _kid_!"

Shaking off his thoughts, Arnold finished filling his tank and was putting the nozzle back in place when he heard the same, gruff voice call out, "Hey kid, I'm talking to you! Uh, Alfred…no, _Arnold! Hey Arnold!"_

Surprised, Arnold turned around and saw none other than Big Bob Pataki striding towards him, "Um…hey Mr. Pataki. How-" was all he got out before the man actually _grabbed _him by the shirt collar and shoved him up against his own car, "_Mr. Pataki_, what are you _doing_?"

"Who the _hell _kind of punk kid do you think _you _are, _huh_? You…you think you can just knock up my daughter, and not own up to it? Just go on your merry way? _Is that what you think?_"

"_Wait_..wha, what are you-

"What do you have to _say _for yourself, you little hooligan?" Big Bob roared in Arnold's face.

"Who..who told you that?" was all he could manage. Arnold's brain had gone into shock and was still trying to register the first part of Mr. Pataki's tirade.

Arnold's response only seemed to anger the man more, "My own _daughter _told me, that's who! You saying my daughter's a _liar_-

"Sir! Let go of that boy right now!"

"Hey man, let up! Let _up_!"

"Get him off that kid, get him off of him _now_!"

All these voices filled Arnold's head, and he saw as Mr. Pataki was pulled off and away from him, but he was detached from it all. All he knew was that he had to get out of here, he had to get to school, he had to find _Helga _right _now_.

He moved away to get into his car, and some people were trying to tell him to stay, and to check if he was okay. He didn't know what he said; perhaps something to the effect of that he just had to get out of here _now_, and that was all that mattered. Whatever they did with Big Bob, he'd deal with later.

But something had to be settled first.

* * *

**7:55am…**

Arnold really didn't remember the drive from the gas station to the school parking lot, except the fact that he drove _fast _and probably recklessly. He pulled into the first available space with a loud squeal of his tires, and he shot out of his car, shutting the door with a forceful slam loud enough to call the attention of many students. But he didn't pay any attention to those things, and walked about as fast as he could in between the threads of people to make it into the school. He wound through crowded hallways until his sight finally locked on Helga's form up ahead.

She was casually getting her books and assignments together for her first few classes from her locker and was startled when she was turned briskly away to find herself staring up into Arnold's troubled face.

"Sheesh, where's the-

"Is it true?"

Helga only blinked up at him, "Is _what _true?"

"Is the baby mine?"

Helga felt every fiber of her being collectively freeze. All she could do was stare at him, mouth slightly open in an action of surprise. His gaze was bearing down hard on her and she averted her eyes away, already noticing that a crowd was starting to gather. But the worse was that she had already begun to feel the prickle of tears behind her eyes, and she knew it wouldn't be long until she was a bawling mess in front of him.

She felt a hand give her a brief, rough shake to gain her attention, and her gaze was brought back to Arnold.

"_Well_? Is it true?" he asked hotly, anger and distress burning clearly in his eyes, making the green of them pop out even more.

"Who, um…who told you that?"

"You're crazy _father _came at me while I was at the gas station and called me out. Probably would've kicked the living hell out of me if people hadn't pulled him off," when Helga still offered no response, Arnold only got more infuriated and pressed on, "he said he'd heard from _his own daughter_. That's pretty damning evidence, Helga."

Helga closed her eyes and sighed to herself, "_Olga_."

"What?" Arnold demanded, not even noticing that they had become the center of attention.

"Nothing, just…nothing," Helga breathed, not knowing what to say. She felt like she was choking on her heart, and she felt really hot and was terrified that she was going to be sick. To top it off, she realized she was crying freely, but she didn't dare make a move to wipe them; she felt frozen to where she stood.

"_Helga_, is it _true_?" Arnold persisted, his voice sounding strained as though he was fighting to keep from shouting.

She took a deep breath as she looked at him, all but a sobbing mess about now, and spoke softly, "Yes…its true. You're the father."

Arnold let out a breath and took a step back. Turning away from Helga, who was silently crying, he began to pace in the small circle the crowd had made around them before approaching her again, this time unable to keep all his anger in check.

"So, let me get this _straight_. You _lied _to me, and…_oh_!" Seeming to have realized something, Arnold gave a callous laugh, "Oh, _wow _you must have had a good ol' time Sunday! You must've just had yourself a good _laugh _at my expense after you got inside. Well, _bravo_, Helga! Well done-

"_No_, it wasn't like that!" Helga pleaded, moving for the first time since he had confronted her.

"And why should I believe _you_?" Arnold snarled.

Helga shook her head, "I know, I _know_. You _shouldn't_ believe me, but I _swear_, not telling you was the hardest thing I ever had to do-

"So _why _do it? What gave you the right to keep this from me?" He countered.

She stood there in silence and offered a weak shrug, "I…I just didn't want to ruin your life. If you didn't know, then you could still gone on and live your life-

"Oh come _on_! You've got to be _kidding _me-

"-Arnold, please. People-

"-I'm a big boy Helga, I can make my _own _decisions. I don't _need _you to make them for me," Arnold spat. After a moment though, his expression went hard. He stepped toward Helga and looked directly into her eyes, "Tell me the truth: If you could've had it your way, would I have _ever _found out? Tell the _truth_."

Helga took a shaky breath before giving a slight shake, "No."

Arnold's jaw set as he stepped back from her again, "I just…my God, I can't even believe this."

"Arnold, I'm so sorry-

Arnold held up a hand to silence her, "_Don't_. I can't…I can't talk to you-I can't even _look _at you right now."

It was with that that Arnold turned around and walked away, the crowd parting easily for him, although he didn't really notice. All he knew was that he had to get the hell out of here. He had to go home, and just let this all sink in.

Oh good _Lord_, he was going to be a _father_?

Helga was left there in the midst of the crowd, all eyes now on her and what she would do next. With a sob she threw her things back in her locker and slammed it shut before shoving her way through the crowd. She made it to the restroom where she was sick from the upset and disorientation she just endured, and for five minutes after, all she could do was cry. How could things have gone so bad so _fast_? But she was to blame for it all, and there was no denying that. God, Arnold _hated _her. And she couldn't blame him, as she wasn't to keen on herself right about now.

She wasn't even consciously aware that she had placed a hand on her belly when she called her sister. The second she heard Olga's voice on the other end, Helga chokingly spoke through her tears, "Can you come get me? Please, I…I can't be here."

* * *

**8:30am…**

For a moment, all Arnold could do was sit in his car, now parked outside the boarding house. How had he gotten here? He couldn't even remember the drive back. Was he crying? No, but he felt sweat drying all over as the adrenalin from the past hour or so finally dropped off. God, all he wanted to do right now was be alone. Go straight up to his room as unnoticeable as possible and never come out again. Oh _man_, he couldn't even _think _of talking to his parents right now! He quickly made his way up the stoop and slid through the door where thankfully no one animals were waiting. Keeping silent, Arnold swiftly moved up the stairs, only thinking about getting to his room and getting _away _when his grandpa startled him from the trance he'd been caught under.

"Hey there shortman, having your own junior-ditch-day?" Phil asked so casually, that if Arnold had replied 'yes' he'd probably not say another word about it.

But instead Arnold burst in to full on _sobs_, right there in front of the man who had raised him up until he was ten, and he just felt so _ashamed_.

Yet, he realized that he really just wanted to cry and be comforted, because really, he was just a _kid_. And that was how his parents and grandma found him only a few moments later, bawling in his grandfather's arms.

"Arnold! Arnold, what happened! Baby, are you hurt?"

"Son, hey Arnold easy. Are you alright? Arnold are-

"I'm sorry," Arnold mumbled, silencing his mother and father. He was too afraid to look at any of them, "I'm so, _so sorry_. I didn't…I didn't mean for this. I didn't even _know_-"

"There, there Arnold," Phil soothed as Stella came and went to embrace her son, but Arnold stumbled back and wiped at his eyes.

"Honey," Stella spoke softly, "Honey, just tell us what happened."

Still furiously wiping his eyes, Arnold choked, "It's mine. Oh God, I can't believe this, I'm so sorry. It's mine, Mom. _Oh_, Dad, what am I going to _do_?"

"Arnold, just take it easy. What's going on?" Miles questioned.

"The baby, Helga's baby. _I'm_ the father," Arnold sobbed.

All four parents stood with their mouths agape.

"You mean that girl who used to have one eyebrow and bully you all the time?" Phil asked, earning a half-hearted smack from Stella before she went to her son.

She cupped his face in her hands and gently spoke, "Honey, its alright, just take a deep breath and…and just calm down, ok?"

After Arnold settled himself down enough to where the worst of the crying hiccups had ebbed, Miles took a big breath, "Now…Arnold, explain where all this has come from. We're a little confused, because when you had mentioned this girl to us the other night-she _is _the same girl that got thrown out, right?"

Arnold nodded, "Uh huh."

"Do you mean to tell us, that you had no idea this baby was yours? That it didn't-

"I didn't know because I didn't _remember_," Arnold defended shakily. At the expectant stares of his family, he pressed on with a deep sigh, "I…well, it happened at that party, after the first week of school. And…and Gerald _said _that there was spiked punch, and then there was punch that was okay. But, I don't know if it got mixed up or that both of them were spike. Look, I know it was stupid to trust anything at a high school party, but I just didn't think that…that, oh I don't _know_. I hadn't meant to get drunk; I hadn't _wanted _to. And then the next thing I know, I've woken up in a strange room and I feel awful in every way. But…I _knew _that I had…that I hadn't been alone, but I couldn't remember who I had been with! I had bits and pieces but…nothing very helpful. I was just so ashamed that…I just wanted to forget it had ever happened."

Wrapping a comforting arm around her son, Stella inquired, "Alright, and how did you find out that it had been Helga?"

Arnold's face went a bit sour, "Her crazy _dad_. He went nuts on me this morning, and was probably ready to beat the heck out of me if people hadn't-

"_What_?" Miles demanded, "That guy put his hands on you?"

Looking up at his father, Arnold's face softened, "Yeah, but…I mean I guess I'd be mad too. I, I'm not _excusing _it but…I just don't want to worry about it; I have enough to worry about right now, and he didn't hurt me," Arnold's expression hardened after a moment, "Actually, I should probably _thank _him. If it weren't for him, I probably would have never found out."

"That might not be true, sweetie. Helga may have just been too scared-

"_No_," Arnold insisted firmly, "When I confronted her about it, she had even said herself that if she had had her way, I would've _never _found out," newly angered, Arnold pulled out of his mom's embrace, "She'd even said as much to my face on Sunday. God, I feel so _stupid_."

"Hey, come on shortman. It's not your fault-

"But how could she _do _that? How could she keep that from me? She made it sound like she was doing me a favor or something, by making those decisions. I just…I've never been so _mad_, not even at her and…I just had to get out of there. I couldn't even be around her anymore."

Stella stiffened, "Where did you talk to her?"

"At school."

"Uh huh…and, well you went to see if what her dad said was true?"

"Yes…"

"…was she crying at all?"

Arnold was suddenly wary, and he could feel the two other men grow uncomfortable. Looking over to his mom, he answered hesitantly, "yes…"

Stella let out a heavy sigh, "Arnold Philip Shortman, do you mean to tell me that you confronted the girl who is carrying your child in front of other students, made her _cry _and then just _left_?"

Arnold forced out a , "…Yes."

His mother closed her eyes and shook her head, "Oh Arnold," she sighed, "I'm so disappointed in you."

Arnold felt his shoulders droop at hearing that, but quite frankly, he was disappointed in himself too.

"Now," Miles spoke up, "what are you planning on doing about this whole…situation?"

Arnold said in a low but unwavering voice, "I'm going to be involved. I…I _want _it to be a joint effort, but…I don't really know where Helga's plans even are. I don't even know if she wants to _keep _the baby-

"Well, young man you will most definitely find out," Stella announced. Placing her hands on her hips, she continued, "Now, I _know _that poor girl probably went home. I wouldn't be able to stay at school after what she had just gone through. And _you're_ going to march right on down to where she's staying, and you're going to-

"_No_," Arnold interjected, earning him a surprised and dangerous stare from his mother. Quickly, he scrambled to explain, "I mean, _yes_, I will go and talk to her. Today. But…I can't right now. I'm still too mad and upset and all sorts of other feelings that I can't begin to sort out. I need some time to calm down and make sure that when I see her I won't…make her cry again."

Stella's face softened slightly, "Good idea. You can just go straight on up to your room and do just that. I'll go call the school."

* * *

**9:45am…**

Miles Shortman went into his son's bedroom only to find said son standing and staring hard at the wall beside the door. Arnold appeared so deep in thought that he hadn't even heard his father's knocks, nor his entrance.

"That wall giving you any good answers son," Miles inquired.

Pulled out of his thoughts (but not startled; he'd had too crazy of a morning to really be surprised by anything at this point) Arnold attempted a smile, "I'm not sure yet."

Puzzled, Miles watched Arnold walk over and take a seat on his bed, and he saw just how heavily the weight of the world sat on his son's shoulder. Miles went and joined his boy and they sat in a comfortable silence for a little while before he spoke up, "So, tell me more about this girl. You've known her for a while?"

Arnold gave a light chuckle, "Yeah, since we were three."

Miles raised his eyebrows, "Wow, you remember that far back?"

Arnold shrugged, "I have some memories from preschool. I met Gerald…and a lot of my friends actually at that place. But, I only really know that from pictures. No, I can remember Gerald the most, but…Helga was pretty hard to miss," a real smile emerged on his face as he recollected, "She had this pink bow in her hair…it was huge so it really stuck out. She wore it all the way up through elementary school, too. I always found it funny; something so soft and girly on a girl that really didn't carry herself that way. But, I don't know, I kinda always liked it I guess."

"So were you two friends?"

Arnold shifted uneasily, "Um…I'm not sure. Sometimes we were…I think. I'm…really not sure," when all his dad gave him was a confused stare, Arnold shrugged, "Helga is…_complicated_. Really, _really_ complicated."

"So I'm starting to get that."

Arnold sighed and was silent for a moment, "The thing is…I mean, I've never actually _thought _about what I would do in the scenario that I get a girl pregnant, but…in retrospect, I'm not really surprised that it was Helga."

Miles cleared his throat, "Oh? And just why might that be?"

Arnold looked a little sheepish at first but continued on, "Well…we were _always _getting paired up for projects or stuck together in situations that, while at the start we were a mess together. She didn't like me, and I'd be stuck dealing with her and how _she _dealt with not liking me. But, whatever it was we _did _together, was great. Somehow, we always pulled together and managed to do some incredible things. Still, I guess it just _figures _that I'd be stuck with her perpetually, through the child we're going to have together," after a few moments of not speaking, Arnold sighed heavily, "Dad…what am I going to do? I'm…I wasn't _ready _for this."

Miles slung an arm over his shoulder, "Son, I can tell you this: No one is _ever _ready to be a parent. They can say it all they want, but inside, they're _always _asking themselves if they're ready. You know what else I can tell you? That you're a good kid. Now, me and your mom…well, this is obviously not what we would have wanted for you but you're always going to have our love and support. And you're fortunate…you've got a home you'll have for as long as you want it. Thanks to you, this house isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so you'll have a home to provide for your family. And your mom and I, we'll help in anyway we can. We'll keep you in school for as long as you want to go with it, and we'll help out financially in other ways if you need it. But, Arnold you are a _good kid_. And, I have no doubts as to what kind of father you'll make," giving Arnold a reassuring squeeze, he went on, "And Helga is more than welcome here…you know if that's what you two decide on. She'll absolutely have a room or…whatever else, because she's as much a part of this family as she wants to be, as far as I'm concerned."

Arnold offered a smile of gratitude, "thanks Dad. I appreciate all of that. I…I'm sorry for disappointing you and Mom…"

Miles gave Arnold and hard hug, "It's alright son, and we love you no matter what."

After a few minutes of just comforting, Miles let himself out so that his son could be left to his thoughts for a while. He had plenty of his own thoughts he had to blow through himself.

* * *

**12:05pm**

Stella had knocked on Arnold's door, and upon entering saw her son laying on his bed and staring up through the skylight. Leaning against the door jamb, she greeted, "Hey, is alright if I come in?"

"Sure Mom."

She went and sat on the edge of the bed, and as Arnold sat himself up to face her, she said, "So, I've been doing some of my _own _thinking."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mmhmm, I've been thinking that Helga is a very brave girl."

Arnold's eyes widened, "_What_?"

Stella nodded, "Yep. What she did, and I'm not saying that I _agree _with it, but what she did must've been terrifying, but her intentions were I think good and even selfless."

"_How_?"

She gave him a pointed look, "Arnold, I know you feel that her keeping the baby a secret was hurtful and unfair, but I think I can understand where she was coming from," when all she got was a befuddled stare, she went on, "A baby is a _huge _responsibility. And if you decide you're going to raise this baby, it's a lifelong _commitment_. I could understand that she was trying to shelter you, and spare you that. Arnold, you are a giver. And you like helping people. But, more importantly, you take responsibility in a way most people don't. If this girl knows you even a little, she knows that. So, she _knows _without a doubt that you'd sacrifice any future life to take care of this child. She probably looked at the situation as an opportunity to spare you of that. And I think it probably tore her up inside, because raising a baby on your own as a single mother is the scariest thing in the world. But, perhaps she was willing to do that. It would've been _easy _to share the load with someone who would so obviously drop anything and everything to help. She could've taken advantage of that fact Arnold, but she_ didn't_. Really, I don't agree with how she handled it, _but _as a mother I can sympathize. What she did took a _lot _of courage. And, I don't think she ever meant to hurt you, honey."

Silent though out the whole thing, Arnold couldn't think of a single thing to say. Stella didn't seem phased by his silence, and merely placed a kiss on top of his head and let herself out.

* * *

**1:15pm…**

Arnold knocked tentatively on the door of Olga Pataki's apartment, shifting from foot to foot as he waited for it to open. When it finally did, Olga took one look at him and glared.

Arnold stood there awkwardly for a moment before clearing his throat, "Is…is Helga here? I really need to talk to her."

"Are you actually her to _talk_?"

Wincing at the implication, and feeling guilt crush down on him, he replied, "Yes, I really want to talk with her."

Olga opened the door wide, "Down the hall, first door on the right."

"Thank you," Arnold went where he had been directed and knocked lightly.

"Go away, Olga."

Taking a deep breath, Arnold turned the knob and opened the door halfway, only to see Helga turned away and dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

"I said I wanted to be left _alone_, Olga."

"Um, its me, Helga."

She whipped her head around and stared wide-eyed at him. Arnold felt awkward standing in her doorway but as he looked at her, he saw her mouth purse and heard her breath hitch. In the next moment she was crying-Helga was _crying_, he hadn't even said five words to her-and grabbing more tissue.

"Oh…geez, Helga. Hey, Helga don't cry," Arnold stammered as he hurried over to where she sat on the bed. Not sure what to do, but willing to give anything a shot, Arnold attempted to put his arm around her shoulder only to have Helga scoot away as though he'd burn her.

"I'm not…_crying_, you stupid…_Football head_," she sobbed as she blew her nose. She refused to face him, feeling utterly ridiculous and humiliated and _terrified_, because _why _was he here? She was just so sick of this _day _already!

"Look, Helga I'm sorry-

"_Sorry_?" Helga leapt up from the bed and faced him, "You're _sorry_? _Why _the heck are you _sorry_? I deserved what I got, you doofus! Don't you get it, this was all _my _fault! Quit being so _nice_, you're supposed to hate me and-

"Hey, hey, easy!" Arnold jumped up as Helga became overwhelmed with sobs. He pulled her close and just held her, even though at first she really didn't want to be, before she just quit it and cried, "I don't _hate _you Helga. Look, I was…I was _mad _and I certainly think I had the right to be, but I shouldn't have made you cry and I shouldn't have left you like that. So, for that I'm _sorry_. Okay? Alright?"

Helga had gotten under control a little, and nodded against his chest, "yeah, alright."

"Okay."

Giving her back some reassuring strokes, he led her back to the bed where they sat down and Helga was more willing to have his partial embrace. For a few minutes they both just sat there, saying nothing at all.

Finally, Arnold asked, "Helga…I have to know: _why _the secrecy in the first place? I mean, _before _you even knew you were pregnant?"

"_Because_, Arnold. We had both been drunk, and while you were just completely _trashed_, I had some semblance of control, but I ignored it."

"But…if you had some idea of what was going on, _why _me? I thought you hated me?"

"I don't _hate _you, I…" Helga hesitated, feeling she was in a very delicate (haha) situation, and had to answer as honestly as she could without completely outing herself. A moment passed before she continued, "I guess that I figured, in my drunken state that is, that if I was going to lose my virginity it might as well be with the nicest guy in town. That way, if you did remember, it wasn't like you were going to blackmail me or start saying mean things about me to everyone. Or that you'd be selfish during it or not even care, and that's pretty appealing to girls. There was comfort in those things. So, I guess…my drunken self figured now was as good as any time to get it over with. When I had woken up, I had realized just how bad a mistake I had made," Helga gathered enough courage to actually look at Arnold, "I had felt _awful _about what I had done, and so…when you didn't remember, I thought it was a Godsend! But, then when I found out I was pregnant, I…I just couldn't bring myself to tell you. I _swear_, I never meant to hurt you. I had wanted to tell you so badly, but I knew it would ruin your life-"

"_Helga_," Arnold interrupted with a tone of annoyance, "_Stop _saying that," When Helga only blinked in surprise, Arnold sighed, "Look, I'm not about to say this is exactly the way I had things planned but I can't find it in my heart to even think _now _that what had happened was a mistake, or that my life is ruined. All I can think about is the fact that…I mean, I'm going to be a father and it scares the _crap_ out of me, but…but I get this crazy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I don't know if I'll ever wrap my head around this feeling, but I can't even _begin _to wish this situation away. I just can't."

Helga sniffled, "I'm sorry you found out…the way you did. Did my dad hurt you?"

Arnold shook his head, "Nah…he would've I'm sure, but he didn't," Arnold looked at her closely for a moment before moving to kneel in front of her, "Helga, the reason why I got so mad at you…I mean, aside from the obvious, but…Helga, I realized my greatest fear today."

Helga quirked an eyebrow and asked dryly, "That you knocked a chick up that you don't even remember sleeping with?"

Arnold fixed her with a annoyed stare before moving on, "_No_…I mean, well _yes _but no! My biggest fear would be going through the same thing my parents went through."

"Getting held captive in a jungle for-

"_Helga_! No, but that I miss out on part of my child's life," he declared in exasperation. At that, Helga's face softened and he went on, "You see, I obviously would never have thought to worry about something like that. But…today, I realized how _close _I had come to that, and it scared me…er, witless-

"-_Wow_-

"-the thought that years later, I'd find out I had a child? I'd never get those years back, Helga. I haven't even mentally become an expectant father for six hours yet, and I was already terrified at a hypothetical scenario of never knowing the kid. _That's_ why I think I really blew up at you today. Yes, part of it was definitely because I was mad and upset, but…but I think a large part of it was that newly, discovered fear…"

Helga could only sit there. What could she _say _to that? My God, how did this kid not _hate _her?

"Helga…I _want _to do this together. Do you?"

_Did _she? In all her dreams of spending a life with Arnold, this was _never _how she envisioned it. And, the fact of the matter is…they'd be _raising _their child together, but _they _wouldn't _be _together.

Beggars couldn't be choosers though, and Helga was in _no _position to be picky.

She nodded, but didn't say anything. Couldn't find any words to speak.

Arnold rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "_So_, I guess we should…iron out some of the details."

Helga shrugged, "Whatever floats your boat."

"Well, the _first _thing I think we should…I mean, it bears asking _I_ think but…should, um well should we…I don't know, get…married?"

"_No_!"

Arnold blinked, "Well…_that _sounded a little _too _panic-

"No, Arnold it's not that. I just…Look, years from now I don't want to have to tell my kid that mommy and daddy only got married because of them. I _never _want my child to think they're the reason for the parents unhappiness or whatever. If we get married or something, it should be…like because we _want _to or some crap like that," Helga finished, hoping she sounded _somewhat _aloof about it, even though on the inside her heart was _pounding_.

"Okay, I can respect that, and I'd have to say I agree. I wouldn't want that either-

"And lets just not go labeling anything right now either," Helga went on, mentally shouting to just shut up but going on anyway, "I mean, the entire school will know by now, no thanks to _you_, that you're my baby's daddy but that's about _all _its going to be. Yes, we'll do this together, but that doesn't mean we're like…_together_."

Arnold gave her a slanted look, "_Fine_, but I want to make things clear that for the time being…and I mean for probably the first few _years _that I'm not comfortable with you seeing anyone. I don't have any desire to go out and try to date anyone either, but that's something that I really want you to respect. If we're going to raise this child together, I don't want to go bringing anyone from the outside around too early."

Helga made a show of rolling her eyes, "_Fine_."

They both stood there in silence, both wondering how they managed to get to arguing so fast, before Arnold sighed, "Look, I don't want to fight anymore today."

Helga shifted uncomfortably, "yeah, me neither…"

Another awkward silence followed until Arnold asked a little timidly, "_So_, um…have you had any, um…doctor appointments yet?"

"My first one is this Saturday."

"Really?" Arnold perked up, "What…what are they going to do?"

"I don't _know_, it's probably just to make sure I'm healthy and get on prenatal care. They might be doing an ultrasound…I don't know, Olga set it up."

"Oh…Well, could I maybe, um, go?"

"Uh…" Helga was caught off guard, and _darn it_, Arnold looked so _cute _standing there and asking that! Getting her mouth to move, Helga managed, "Sure Football head, its at 3:00. I don't know _what_ you're expecting, they probably can't _see _anything."

Arnold smiled, "That's okay, its still exciting to…I don't know, be apart of it."

Helga chuckled in spite of herself, "Whatever Arnoldo," finally the silence was a companionable one, but Helga was suddenly reminded of the toll this day has had on her, and she said, "Look, I think you should go. I'm pretty tired and I really need to get some rest."

Arnold smiled sympathetically and nodded, "Alright, Helga. I'll let you rest," he stepped forward and hugged her before she had a chance to stop it, "Again, I'm sorry for making you cry. We're going to get through this together, I promise."

Helga allowed herself to briefly return his embrace before stepping away from it. She gave a small smile, "I know. Thanks Arnold."

* * *

**3:00pm...**

Arnold had opted to walk home from Olga's apartment; it was a day for thinking. A _lot _of thinking. When Arnold finally reached home, he saw Gerald leap up from where he was sitting on the stoop and came bounding towards him.

"Holy _crap_, Arnold! Where the hell have you been? Your phone was off all day, and I come here straight after school and all your parents tell me is that you 'went out'. Where'd you _go_, man?"

Overwhelmed a little at seeing his best friend, Arnold struggled to keep his voice clear, "I was um…I was with Helga."

"Oh…So then, it _is _true?" Gerald asked in a quiet voice.

Arnold nodded and had intended to say something when, _darn it_, he felt tears prickling behind his eyes, "Oh _man_, Gerald I…geez, how could things go so far south so fast?"

Wait, were those tears in _Gerald's_ eyes? Arnold didn't get a chance to be sure, before his best friend was giving him a good, hard, man hug.

* * *

**Well, there you have it! Good gosh this chapter was long! The end scene I had meant to be a bit longer buuuut, this freaking thing was getting ridiculous! I can just add it in later :) But, I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I hope it was still somewhat in character! I'll try and get an update out as soon as I can, but it probably won't be until later next week sometime! In the meantime, review pls? :D**

**L2WF247**


	5. Chapter 5: Of Pity and Table Tops

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.**

**FF Summary: One night Helga thought would be of no consequence ends up changing her and Arnold's life forever.**

**Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.**

**This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!**

**Warnings: This will be rated high T for content, language and mild adult situations. It may be bumped up to an M rating for later chapters.**

* * *

"Of Pity and Table Tops"

The two young men ended up on Arnold's roof, sitting in their usual folding chairs and a bottle of yahoo. Understandably, the mood was far more somber than usual, as they stared out over the city and watched the street lights begin to flicker on.

Gerald sighed, "_Man_, I just can't get my head wrapped around this."

"Tell me about it."

"I mean _you_ and _Helga G. Pataki_? I mean, I _knew_ you were a bold kid Arnold, but hell, have _some _limits!"

Arnold squirmed in his seat, "Look, _obviously_ if we had both been completely sober-I would've _never _tried that sort of thing with-"

"Well _shit_, man if you had both been sober _Helga_ would've sent you home in a_ body bag_ if you had tried anything! I just didn't realize a man could be drunk enough to do it with _Helga_."

Arnold frowned, "Hey, man lay off her. She's nowhere _near _as bad as she used to be, and guys at our school have no problem checking her out-

"I'm sorry, I've known her _too_ long to even _humor _the idea of checking her out. Gives me the willies just thinking about it."

The blonde rolled his eyes, "Whatever, Gerald. It doesn't matter; what's done is done and that's that."

There was a pause as Gerald took in his friend's moody posture, realizing he was at fault for it, before picking up where Arnold left off, "So…what are you and Helga going to do?"

"Just…work on this together the best we can. Like we always do."

"Yeah but, are you guys going to like…make, I don't know, anything _official _or-"

"No," Arnold replied quickly and sighed, "She said she'd never want our child to feel like their parents were married just because of them. I respect that; _agree_ with that, actually. We're just…_partners_. That's it."

Gerald shrugged, "Probably for the best."

"Hmm, yeah. I guess," Arnold sipped from his drink, "So…how exactly did school go today after the whole scene I made this morning?"

"_Oh_…oh, _man_ it was _the_ talk of the _day_; obviously. _Sheesh_, bro I gotta say that the whole damn school pities you."

Arnold groaned, "Oh _no_, Helga's not gonna like that. She _hates _when people pity her."

Gerald shot Arnold a look, "Whoa, Arnold you misheard me. They don't pity you _both_, they just pity _you_."

Arnold's eyes widened, "_Me_? What, _why_? What about Helga-"

"Dude, its _Helga_. Yeah, she doesn't shake her fists around in people faces as much, but she's _still_ a pain in the ass! They feel bad for you, because _you're _stuck with her pretty much for the rest of your life."

"But, but that's a load_ horse shit_!"

Gerald's jaw dropped, "_Uh_-"

"Why should they feel sorry for _me_? I mean, _geeze_ did they _see_ how I treated her this morning? Did they hear _anything_ I said to her-for God's _sake_ Gerald, I made her _cry_. _I_ made _Helga G. Pataki_ cry, and people feel bad for _me_?" Arnold was standing now, and was pacing over the rooftop, his voice still level but heated, "I'm the world's biggest asshole, and everyone wants to pat me on the back and say 'Aw, its okay Arnold'? That's stupid! Who _does _that?"

When Arnold seemed to look expectantly at Gerald, the dark skinned teen could only come up with a sheepish shrug, "I mean, look Arnold your reputation proceeds you. You're a _legend_ around here; a _hero_. And Helga-"

"Is a human being! One who has on _numerous_ occasions helped me. One such event, was when _we_ saved the neighborhood. Or have you _forgotten _that?"

Gerald slouched in his seat and pouted, "_No_, I haven't-

"This is just utter crap. I can't believe that they-"

"Arnold, this is_ high school_. You've been out in the jungle for five years; a lot has changed."

Arnold glared out over the city, "Apparently."

"Look, just…the best you can do is just ignore the crap from everybody."

"Directed to me? Yeah, I will. But Gerald, I'm not going to stand by and let them come down on Helga. No way."

"I _hardly _think she'll appreciate you sticking up for her, man. That ain't Pataki's style."

"Yeah well, that's too bad. If they rag on her, they'll have to do it to me, too."

"Well _that _might be easier said then done."

* * *

**Thursday Morning. 8:03am**

"What are _you _doing here?" Helga grumbled as she pulled open her locker.

"We have first period together, Helga. I can't walk with you?"

Helga shot Arnold a flat stare, "No."

Arnold rolled his eyes, "Oh, come _on _Helga-"

"Don't think I can't see what you're doing, Football Head," The blonde snapped as she pulled out her items and slammed her locker shut.

"Oh? And, just _what _am I doing?"

Helga glared up at him, "Look, just because you knocked me up _doesn't _mean you're my little body guard. I've been dealing with these fools on my own for the last week, I don't need you to walk me to class," at that she turned on her heel and marched off.

"Helga! Where are you going, class is the other way!"

"_Excuse _me, but I have to _pee_!" She spat, not caring the stares she got from her peers.

Ugh, pregnancy was just _so _annoying!

* * *

**8:09am**

**First Period.**

Arnold walked into class and took his seat. Just as he got settled, Mrs. Cawley, signaled for him to come to her desk.

"Here are the lecture notes you missed from yesterday. You can turn in your assignment tomorrow, as I understand you had a…_personal _issue happen yesterday."

Arnold felt his face heat up a little, and he cleared his throat, "Uh, thank you Mrs. Cawley."

He returned to his seat as the bell rung, and the teacher bean to take attendance. Five minutes had passed, and while Mrs. Cawley was reviewing where they had left off yesterday, Helga entered the room looking a bit pale in the face.

Arnold frowned, wanting to ask if she was feeling alright, but the teacher cleared her throat.

"Nice of you to join us, _late_, Miss. Pataki. Please take your seat. I'm reviewing a part of yesterdays lesson that I'm _sure_ you would do well to listen…_considering _you missed out."

Helga barely contained the eye roll as she took her seat, looking more annoyed than anything else.

Arnold was appalled, and his face more than likely showed it. The teacher, who had been accommodating with him, had just been downright rude to Helga! As if she needed a reason to have been late-it was clear she had looked a little sick.

Arnold couldn't believe just how much Gerald had been right. This whole school was against Helga. And why? Because they thought she deserved this fate? Arnold glanced amongst his peers and wished he was still in San Lorenzo. High school was looking more like a jungle then there.

* * *

**Lunch**

Arnold was beyond pissed by the time lunch period rolled around. He didn't have any other classes with Helga, other than first, so he couldn't imagine what she was dealing with, but he was sick of everyone's pity faces. Everyone was being so sympathetic towards him, but the second they turned away, they were whispering about Helga. It was ridiculous the things they were saying, and Arnold really didn't know how much longer he could stand it.

As he looked around the lunch room and spotted Helga, it would seem that he was going to find out soon.

"Hey, Helga. Maybe as an extra shot of Karma, you'll gain a bunch of weight. _That _should be fair," some girl, Molly something, spoke as though she was telling some great joke, and her little followers laughed.

One piped up, "Ooh, maybe we could call her the 'Cautionary Whale'! Who knew we'd ever get to use that name, _right_?"

They all laughed. Well, except Helga of course. She sat at the table all alone. Phoebe came to lunch halfway through on Tuesdays and Thursdays because of some meeting for some…thing, and while usually other people sat at the table with them…well, obviously that was no longer the case.

When the girls failed to get a rise out of Helga, they moved on to sit at their table. But Helga knew it wasn't over.

Oh, and lo and behold, here it comes. Josh Mackey was walking by, some annoying douche bag she always caught checking her out. Gee, she was just itching to hear what he had to say.

He didn't disappoint, "Hey there Pataki. Hope you aren't letting it get ya down that no ones sitting with you; after all, you're not _technically _alone. Right?"

Helga rolled her eyes as he walked right past, presumably to go high five his friends over his so-called 'burn.'

From behind her, she heard him pipe up, "Hey man, all the luck to you dealing with _that_."

A moment later, Arnold was beside her table, and this time Helga had to hold back the urge to scream. Crimeny, all she wanted to do was eat her lunch! Was that too much to ask?

"Helga, are-

"I _swear_, if you ask me how I am doing, I will assume _no _responsibility for where my fist lands on your person."

Arnold rolled his eyes, "Helga, you've never once put your hands on me. That's hardly a threat anymore."

Helga fixed him with a cool stare, "Putting my hands on you is _actually_ what got us into this mess,_ Football Head_."

Arnold glared, but his cheeks went red, "_Violently_. You've never put your hands on me _violently_," Arnold amended as he shook his head.

The pair both overheard a not so quiet conversation from a table across the aisle, "Look at him, being _so_ supportive over her. She totally deserves _way _worse."

"Right? I mean, _God_ she's a flaming _bitch_! Remember when she…"

As Arnold turned his attention away from the conversation, it only became clear how many times their names were being whispered within the cafeteria.

And he just couldn't stand it anymore.

So, what did he do?

Well, he did something very…Arnold.

"That's it," he stated and dropped his tray unceremoniously on the table, causing Helga to slightly jump. Helga's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped when she saw Arnold get up onto the table.

"Hey! Hey, can I get everybody's attention?" Arnold shouted, although to anyone, it didn't sound angry. Most people regarded him with both shock and amusement, and gave their full attention to the blonde.

Arnold looked around the room and offered a sardonic smile, "Actually, that seemed a bit silly to ask for your attention. Its pretty obvious that _all_ of you have been paying me and Helga _way _too much attention as it is."

At that, Helga snapped her mouth shut and her eyes turned into a glare, while people around the room shifted a bit uncomfortably in their seats.

"Now, I'm not about to say that the situation wouldn't bring attention to us. Obviously, this is high school, and you guys don't have anything else better to do."

"_Arnold, quit it,_" Helga whispered harshly.

"Look, I'm not campaigning or asking you guys to stop harassing Helga. I've known her since preschool, I know how she acts. So, I know that you guys are going to go on talking as much crap about her as you can."

"_You know, you really suck at defending people!_" She hissed up at him.

"But, if you're going to talk trash about her, then you're going to have to talk trash about _me_, too. I don't want your stupid _pity_. And you all should be disgusted with yourselves. I know _I'm_ disgusted with you. Everyone has heard what happened yesterday morning, some of you may have even witnessed it yourselves. But to all of you: if you can sit back, knowing the way I _spoke_ to Helga, who no matter _what_ she's done, is still a _person_ with _feelings_, and if you can still want to show me sympathy? You guys are no better than however bad you think Helga is. Its bull crap that you all can talk about is how much I don't deserve this, and how Helga deserves worse in the same sentence. You think you guys are _above_ making mistakes? Any of you? Your screwed sense of morality is not going to get you anywhere outside of High School; _trust _me. I've been out in the real, harsh world where people's problems go far deeper than your petty High School dramas.

_I'm_ at fault, too. Quit _trying _to make me out to be some martyr for whatever soap opera you think is playing out. Say whatever you want about Helga, but you're going to have to say it about me, too."

The cafeteria was so quiet, that when Arnold's feet hit the floor it sounded like a gun shot. Helga's face was bright red, with embarrassment, but her fists were curled tight. She was in so much shock, that when she would've stormed out the second his speech started, she couldn't move a muscle.

It wasn't until Arnold sat down across from her, elbows propped up on the table and head in his hands, that her paralysis broke and she headed briskly out of the cafeteria.

She walked as fast as she could on wobbly legs, although she was surprised she didn't feel sick. Flushed and clammy, but not like she was about to hurl.

"Helga! Helga, wait!"

"Go away."

Arnold swung in front of her, his feet lightly sliding across the linoleum, "Helga, look I just couldn't take what they-"

"_God_, you really just can't _help_ yourself, _can_ you?" She exasperated, "_Ugh_, why'd you have to go all 'Arnold' on them? Why couldn't you just _leave_ it _alone_?"

"What, and let them go on talking that way?"

"Oh, you _really_ think that little speech is going to _stop _them?"

"Well at _least_ I said something! Like you said, I couldn't help myself. I'm not just going to sit there and let them think for one second I'm not bothered. Now they know, and _I_ don't feel like a _jerk_."

"_Why _would you feel like a jerk?" She huffed.

"Because, they feel bad for _me_! Despite yesterday, they can still feel bad for me. But they don't feel bad for _you_."

"_Doi_, Arnoldo! I'm a bully, I'm a bitch, and now they get to add to their list, that I'm a knocked up slut. To them, there is _justice _in the world!"

Arnold faltered, and his face was grim when he turned away from her and leaned against a locker. He slid down to the floor and brought his knees up, "High school is _so _screwed up."

Helga sighed gently and lowered herself beside him, and her knee bumped his shoe, "Yeah, kinda makes you miss home schooling out in the jungle, huh?"

Arnold breathed out a laugh, "You have _no _idea."

Helga smiled a bit tightly, "Then you _really _wouldn't be in this problem."

Arnold caught her eyes with his own, "Hey, cut it out," he said this softly and without an sting.

Helga broke the gaze and absently fiddled with the hem of her color-blocked dress. Arnold placed his hand over hers and he saw her glance quickly at them.

"_I_ don't pity me, Helga. And if I do slip up and have a pity party, its for the _both _of us," He gently knocked shoulders with her, "And you're not a…well, you aren't what they say you are."

Helga snorted, "Oh _please_, Hair Boy."

"No, really. You're not. You just _pretend _you are. And…you're not even really that good at it."

Helga shot a look at him, but she saw he was being sincere. It made her heart flutter. This young man doesn't curse in front of her and says she's bad at being a bully. She felt her eyes prickle, her cheeks flush, and the urge to punch him.

If only she could've always blamed this reaction on hormones.

Arnold noticed her eyes sheen over, and turned slightly towards her, "Hey, now. Not everyone is cut out to be one."

Helga looked into his green eyes, they were looking at her teasingly, and she let out a half-laugh, "Thanks for telling it to me straight, Football Head."

He chuckled, "No problem."

"Oh, and Arnold," Helga grabbed his shirt and jerked him forward, "If you _ever_ embarrass me like that again, I'll punch you so hard, you'll wake up with a chalk outline, _Got it_?" She growled.

Arnold's widened eyes drooped into their typical half-lidded gaze, "Whatever you say, Helga."

Helga was caught off guard by the line. She couldn't remember the last time she had heard him say it, and in that moment he still looked so much the way he used to. The way his eyes did that…_thing_ to her insides, his subtle smirk, and it made her long for those younger days where all she did was _dream _of being this close to him, whispering and breathing him in and-

_Oh, shit_!

_When_ did her brain decide to put her _lips_ on his and _not_ run it by her _first_!

Oh crap, she could practically feel his shocked gaze on hers! Oh _double_ crap, wait no okay this okay because she can feel him pull back. Now, his lips were beginning to pull away, _gently_-of course, because he's not going to _try _and hurt her feelings.

Helga gasped when she felt Arnold's lips, unsure yet deliberate, capture hers in a deeper, and still gentle kiss. She felt heat pool deep in her belly, and when she felt like he was about to take more she pulled all the way back and the next moment they were both gazing at each other, she with a bated breath and he with an expression of confusion and want.

Helga stumbled to her feet, shoving slightly at him in the process, "We discussed this. We're _not _some kind of couple."

Arnold looked up at her with his half-lidded gaze and an annoyed frown, "Helga, _you_ kissed _me_."

The blonde girl looked at him blankly and shrugged, "Hormones."

And with that, she turned on her heel and walked off. Just in time, too. She felt like she was going to be sick.


	6. Ch 6: Of An Appointment and a Red Couch

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.

FF Summary: One night Helga thought would be of no consequence ends up changing her and Arnold's life forever.

Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.

This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!

Warnings: This will be rated high T for content, language and mild adult situations. It may be bumped up to an M rating for later chapters.

So enjoy, first HA on this account, but all my old ones were crap : P

**PLEASE READ!**

**Okay, so I know next to _nothing_ about contracting, renovations, and add-ons and anything pertaining to buildings so anything discussed in this chapter or in the one to follow...its going to be Artistic License.  
**

**Also, much of the pregnancy stuff is based off what I know from experience with family members, but I have tried to be as accurate as possible. Specific details were used from the source babycenter.  
**

**This is not quite a filler chapter, as some very important things happen, but...well the next two chapters will be a lot more...exciting? That sounds bad, because I really like this chapter, but it has some great developing points. I adore writing Arnold/Helga interaction in its bantering form, and LOVE Arnold/Gerald bromance stuff, so hopefully you enjoy this chapter as much as I did! :)  
**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**Of an Appointment and a Red Couch**

**Saturday, 2:33 p.m.**

"_No_ Gerald, I _can't_ just talk about it now. That's why I want you to come _over_ tomorrow," Arnold replied as he shrugged himself into a jacket and headed out of his room, "Besides, this sort of thing needs to be discussed in person," Arnold pushed the attic stairs up and rolled his eyes, "_No_, I have **not **gotten anyone else pregnant you jerk."

"Hey, Arnold!" Ernie called out before entering his room, "Talked to my guy today, he'll be by Tuesday at 4."

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Potts!" Arnold threw over his shoulder before angling back to the phone's receiver, "and speaking of people I've gotten pregnant, I'm heading out to meet Helga for her first doctor's appointment, so I'll talk to you later…yeah, be by around noon tomorrow. Alright, see ya."

"You heading out, son?" Miles asked from the main living room.

"Yeah, Helga's got her doctor's appointment at 3:00."

"You mother wants you to invite Helga over for a dinner soon."

Arnold slowed his steps to the front door to look at his dad, "Oh…well, I'll see if she goes for that."

"You better hope she does, or else _she'll _have to deal with your mom harassing her."

Arnold rolled his eyes, but was smiling, "I don't even think _Helga _deserves that. I'll see you later!"

"Bye, son!"

* * *

**Doctor's office.**

Arnold walked in and was immediately greeted by the sight of several pregnant women, of varying sizes.

He felt instantly out of place.

While momentarily frozen by the looks of scrutiny from some of the older women, he was pulled out from it by one of the few staples in his life:

"Over here, Football Head!"

His gaze found the slouched form of Helga, pretty in her signature pink, and a slight scowl on her face as she flipped through a pregnancy magazine.

He nearly sighed in relief and made his way over to the empty chair beside her. Once settled he looked to the person beside Helga and offered a sheepish smile, "Hey there, Olga. How are you?"

She returned a genuine (with a _touch_ of an apology) smile back, "_So_ excited! We'll _finally_ get to _see_the little peanut growing inside here-

Helga slapped her sister's hand away from her, for the time being, flat stomach, "Knock it off, sister! Its creepy!"

"How are you feeling, Helga?"

"Peachy."

Olga whispered, "She's just feeling a little cranky."

"And my hearing works great, too."

"A Miss…Helga Pataki?" A nurse asked after glancing at her clipboard.

"_Yeah_?" Helga nearly snapped.

"Uh…the, the doctor will see you now."

"Yay," she responded unenthusiastically, and both Arnold and Olga stood up to follow her.

The nurse cautiously held up a hand, "Oh, I'm sorry but, only _one _of you can accompany her."

The two looked awkwardly at each other, but Olga smiled, "Oh, you _really _should be the one to go."

"Are you sure? Because I-

"Seconded," Helga interrupted, "You're less likely to burst into happy tears every 10 seconds, so lets get to it Arnoldo."

When they got to the small room, Helga's face showed that she was less than impressed with the…chair and the-

"I'm _sorry_, are those _stirrups_?"

"Yes, it makes it easier for the Gynecologist to do the examination."

"Sorry, but that's a deal breaker," Helga shot as she turned to leave.

Arnold quickly clasped her arm and halted her, "Helga, come on, you _have _to get this done."

"Here, you'll need to change into this," the nurse carefully handed Helga the dressing gown.

Helga quirked an eyebrow at the garment before focusing her gaze on the nurse, "Tell me something, lady: Do you get a real kick out of this crap, or…"

"Okay!" Arnold careened Helga towards the chair and turned to the nurse, "We'll just go ahead and wait for the doctor. Thanks for the help!"

When the nurse made a break for it, Arnold turned around and gave Helga an annoyed look, "You know, they've got lots of small, sharp instruments and you in stirrups…you _might _just try being a little nicer."

"_Hey_, she picked a life of dealing with hormonal women; _she's _the idiot," Helga huffed and crossed her arms.

Arnold rolled his eyes, "How did it _ever_ come to the point where I'm actually _used _to this behavior from you?"

"Hey, consider yourself lucky," Helga shrugged as she held up the gown and offered it a scowl, "at least you _know _how horrible I am and it won't be some nasty surprise later on in our joint child rearing."

"How about we leave the 'Looking on the Brightside' stuff to me?" Arnold straight-faced.

"Whatever," Helga said uninterestedly and turned to him sharply, "You need to get out."

Arnold faltered, "What? Why, I didn't even _do _anything!"

Helga rolled her eyes dramatically, "Word to the wise, kid: when dealing with a pregnant woman, it _hardly _matters whether one does something wrong or not when hormones are all out of whack. Just for future reference," she tacked on a fake, sweet smile to which Arnold only glowered at.

"So noted."

"But, yeah you need to go."

"_Why_?"

"_Because_, Football Head, I _have_ to _change_!"

At that, Arnold flushed, "_Oh_, well right."

The blonde turned around left, and Helga quickly changed into the dressing gown, all the while eying the stirrups wrathfully. Once finished, she got seated in the chair, and sat stiffly in it while she ensured the gown was pulled as far as it could go down her thighs, and her legs as tightly shut as possible.

The irony of knowing if she had done just _that_ to begin with, she wouldn't be here with those…**ugh**, those _stirrups_!

She sighed woefully before announcing Arnold could come back in. He opened the door cautiously and took notice of the new flesh on display, before quickly averting his eyes and shut the door.

Helga had noticed, and was simultaneously pleased and annoyed.

_Fudging hormones._

A moment later, the doctor came in with a warm smile that Helga couldn't subconsciously help but wanna smack off him.

"Helga, how are we feeling today?"

Though Helga opened her mouth to reply, Arnold interceded, "You _really _don't want her to answer that, Dr…?"

"Timmens, but you're more than welcome to call me Dr. Ross," He turned to Helga, "Now I understand this is your first ever exam with a gyno, and there's some apprehension about the stirrups?"

Helga, looking decidedly uncomfortable, nodded.

"I wish I could say there was a way around it but" he held his hands out and shrugged, "the good news is, after I check everything, we'll get you that ultrasound and you'll forget all about your discomfort."

Helga nodded again, taking a deep breath, and then put her game face on, "Alright, Doc but I want like…_record _breaking fast here!"

Dr. Ross smiled, "I will do my absolute best. Now then, lets get this over with, shall we?" he motioned towards the stirrups.

Helga cringed and shot a look at Arnold, who looked pretty uncomfortable himself. Since Helga wasn't feeling charitable at the moment and had _no_ intention of letting him skip out (not that he _would_), she sent him a scowl, "Alright, Football Head. Get your butt over here," she motioned beside her.

"Huh? Why?"

She gave him bland look, "You don't need to have the same view as the doctor, bucko."

"Oh…_oh_! Uh, right," Arnold blushed brightly and quickly stood beside her.

He tried so hard not to squirm when he saw her feet slide into the stirrups and the doctor ease her legs apart and just…kinda went right in. Arnold knew the doctor was explaining things to Helga, but Arnold was focusing way too hard to just…**not** focus on her legs…being apart…and some _guy _was just-

Arnold mentally shook his head. This was just too weird. And he knew Helga was really uncomfortable, and for good reasons. He silently thanked God that he was a guy.

The next thing Arnold knew was Dr. Ross telling Helga she could sit up (and remove her feet from the stirrups), and he couldn't believe it was over already.

"Alright, so we'll just do a quick breast exam, and then we'll be all set to move on to the ultrasound," the doctor said brightly.

Whoa, _what_?

Arnold all of a sudden realized both the doctor and Helga were staring at him oddly, when he realized he had said that out loud.

His face went red as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "Uh, I didn't know that was…um part of the whole exam. That's all," he ended with a nervous chuckle.

Helga rolled her eyes as she looked straight ahead and Dr. Ross, noting Arnold's behavior, suggested the young man turn around.

Arnold did just that, and all the while tried really, _really_ hard not to think about the fact that right behind him, some _guy_ was groping Helga.** Helga G. Pataki**. Mother of his unborn child. Girl he lost his virginity to. Lifelong sorta-friend, childhood bully-

"Hey, Hair Boy, fun stuff is over. You can turn around now," Helga snidely remarked.

When he turned he saw, that while she was feigning relaxing (even though her feet were back in the stirrups), he knew the whole thing had been uncomfortable for her.

"Thinking you should've let _Olga _take this after all?" Helga quipped.

Arnold saw Dr. Ross setting up the viewer and grabbing the gel, before looking back at Helga and shaking his head, "No way."

"Whoops!" Dr. Ross said cheerfully, "I forgot to let you know that you could change back into your clothes…or at least your pants."

Helga groaned and rolled her eyes extra slow as she removed herself from the stirrups and got down from the chair.

"Uh, I can leave again…"

Helga waved him off, grabbing her…ahem, bright pink-I'm sorry,_ thong!?_- and her black leggings and simply stepped into the underwear, maneuvering it so they were slipped on with flashing anything important from beneath the gown, and repeated the process for the leggings.

Of course, after seeing her begin to put on her underwear, Arnold had averted his eyes. He was too closely recalling a moment 6 weeks ago where he had been sliding a pair _off_, and he was starting to feel just a little _too _warm and fidgety in this white room.

Finally, when Helga was done, she once again situated herself on the chair, and Dr. Ross folded the gown up to just below her breasts where a flat stomach still remained.

"Alright, here comes the gel: it will be just a _tad _chilly," he disclaimed as he squirted it on the teenage girl.

"_**Just** _a _**tad****!?**_" Helga yelped.

"Now, according to the paperwork you filled out, and when you believe you conceived-

"**Know when**," the two spoke together.

"Ah," Dr. Ross acknowledged before continuing, "very well, so you know conception was the 14th of August, which puts you at a due date of May 8th."

"Oh jeez," Arnold muttered, "Helga, what exactly are you thinking of doing about school? We don't get out until late May!"

"I've talked to the principal: he said as long as I remain in good standing and stay on my _best behavior_," she said with a sneer, "then I may be able to work from home and come in for finals week."

"Wow, really?"

"Olga _really_ buttered him up. She's a _legend _there," Helga mocked.

He frowned, but the doctor said the ultrasound was ready to go, and he began to run the instrument all along Helga's abdomen, "Let's see, it should be just about-Ah!-there the little one is!" He gestured to a darkened spot, "You can just faintly make out the curve of the fetus here-baby is _just _about the size of a raisin- and its got all the major organs…oh, very nice. I'm getting just the heart beat speed I want to see."

"H-Heart beat?" Helga breathed.

"Mm-Hmm," he pointed to the screen again, and gestured to the area surrounding the fetus, "that there is the sac, and…" he froze the image and zoomed in, "Ahh, very good. Right there you can _just_ make out the heart beat. Still to early to get a picture of the heart itself, but its working just fine! The sac is measuring at…17mm, and your little one is measuring from Crown to Rump at a little over 5.5mm," He looked at them before picking up his clipboard, "Everything is looking very well Helga, for both you _and _your baby. I'll be back with a right up of the exam today and your pictures."

"_Holy shit_," Helga murmured once the doctor had left, her eyes never leaving the screen.

"Helga…I can't believe this," Arnold managed to tear his eyes away to look at her, "That's, that's **our** baby. Right there," he had a stupidly big grin as he looked back to the screen, "How is it even _possible _to love something no bigger than a raisin?"

Helga didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure she even remembered how to _speak_! She reached for Arnold's hand, and he looked down at her, "Arnold…" she began softly, and she realized she was on the brink of tears. She opened her mouth, but she wasn't sure what was going to come out.

It seemed she would never know, as Dr. Ross had returned, paperwork, pictures, and of course, a smile.

* * *

**Sunday, Boarding House, 12:03pm**

"So, will you be staying for dinner?"

"I'd love to, Mrs. S," Gerald said as he opened the door to Arnold's room and was greeted by the sight of his best friend, his father, and a few of the boarders.

"Great! Oh, and speaking of dinner…Arnold, did you remember to invite Helga for dinner this Friday?" Stella asked.

"Whoops! Sorry, mom I forgot. I'll try to remember to ask her tomorrow."

After a few moments of idle chatter, Arnold cleared his throat, "Okay, so Gerald I'll just go ahead and kind of fill you in on why I wanted you here today."

Gerald gave Arnold a suspicious look, "Alright?"

"So…everyone knows about, well my situation-

"You getting that girl in trouble, _Ehehehe_!" Mr. Kokoshka interjected.

"Shut yer yap, ya lazy **bum**!" Mr. Potts swatted at him.

"You. Are _so _impolite!" Mr. Hyunh stated succinctly.

"Guys, guys!" Miles interceded, and they all looked to him, "Let's _try_ and cooperate here, and be respectful to Arnold. I've heard enough about his younger years to figure out you _all_ owe him in _some_way."

"**What** _exactly_ are they _doing_ for you, man? _What's _going on?" Gerald asked.

"Well, after I found out about Helga…I don't know, I was thinking a lot about the future and how we'll be able to successfully raise this baby and how to be practical about it," Arnold looked seriously over at Gerald, "I'm going to ask her to move in with me."

"You're gonna _what_?"

"_And_, I would like for that to happen as soon as possible-

"-_What_, you think you can just-

"because I think the best thing we can do-

"-take on _shackin'_ up with _Hell_-Girl-

"to prepare for this baby is to-

"-**all** because you've been _runnin' _around-

"learn to live and work together-

"-with other wild animals, _Jungle Boy?_"

"_Gerald!_"

"Well, _what_ man? How did you _expect _me to take this?"

Arnold looked at him crossly, "Well, I'm **not** finished _yet_."

Arnold crossed over to where the red couch was currently sitting out, "I had Mr. Potts check out the space behind here. He says there can be a good 8 x 10 square feet of space back there," he knelt down to peek through the crack, "I know it doesn't _seem_ like it, but he says it can probably be done. It'd be just right for a basic nursery. _Plus_, he knows a contractor and said he'll be out here Tuesday afternoon to give us the go ahead and a list of codes that need to be met," he stood and looked at all of them, "_So_, I figure with everyone pitching in when they can, we can probably have this done in two weeks at the most."

"_Two_ _weeks_!" Oskar whined, "Oh, but that sounds like a _lot_ of _work_."

"Wha'd I tell ya, huh? Lazy. _Bum_!" Ernie exclaimed.

Arnold merely shrugged, "Come **on**, they had that show where they built an entire house in 7 _days_! I think a small room in less than two weeks is pretty doable."

"Now, _wait_ just a _minute_ here," Gerald started and pointed at Arnold, "**You**…wanna build a _nursery_ behind _that _wall?"

Arnold nodded, "That's right."

"…Where the couch is?"

"Uh…well, _yeah_."

"**You're** gonna get _rid_ of your _**couch**_?"

"Well, _no_. I figured it could get upholstered or something to like…a toy **bin** instead of a toy _box_, so the bin would just pull out and there'd be a place to sit and read books-

"But it won't come out of the _wall _anymore," Gerald stressed.

"No, obviously _not_-

"**Man**, I was only _friends_ with you growing up, because of that _couch_!"

Arnold fixed him with an unimpressed gaze, "Gerald, we met in _preschool_. I didn't even move up here until I was _seven_."

"Yeah, well…" Gerald faltered, "If I hadn't **met** you until you moved up here, it _would've _been why I was friends with you!"

"Uh, Gerald? You're being _really _weird about this couch."

"_**No**_, _you_ just don't _care _about it enough anymore!"

Arnold awkwardly looked from his best friend to the group of adults eying the teenagers, "Uh, guys? Do you _mind_, um…giving us a few minutes?"

"_Great_! I'll go eat that sandwich!"

"You keep your mitts of that sandwich, Kokoshka, or I'll be _feeding _you a knuckle sandwich!"

"You. Are _very _strange!" Mr. Hyunh said to Gerald before exiting as well.

"Take your time, guys," Miles said as he shut the door after him.

With the room cleared, except for the two lifelong friends, Arnold turned and crossed his arms, "Alright, Gerald. What's the deal? It's just a _couch_!"

"It is _**not** _just a _couch_!" Gerald said heatedly, "That couch and I have been through a _lot _together."

Arnold shifted awkwardly, "Do you…_need _a moment alone with the couch or…?"

"You just don't **get it**, man! This couch has been a staple in my childhood! I mean, every time I came over it was there for me! All I had to do was just push a button, and it _never_ let me down! And now…_now_ you wanna just **tear** it and put a **baby room** behind it and share your room with _our _childhood bully!" Gerald went and flopped down on the couch and put his head in his hands.

After all that, Arnold's features softened, "This isn't about the couch, is it?"

"Not _entirely_…" Gerald sighed and looked up at his best friend, "_Shit _man, this is really happening isn't it? You're going to be a father and things are never going to be the way they were with us before."

Arnold sat down beside him, "No, its not. This isn't easy for me either. But, you're the only brother I've ever had; that isn't going to change. I _so_ badly want you…_need_ you to be an uncle to my kid. We might not get to do the sort of things together we should be able to at our age but…I _need _you to be there for me."

"I wouldn't even _think_ of being anywhere else, man," and the two shared in their secret handshake and then just sat back on the couch and talked about football, that crazy Spanish teacher, and the nursery layout until dinner was ready.

* * *

**Hope to have a quick update, guys! Thank you all so much for your support. I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying this story! :)**

**L2WF247  
**


	7. Chapter 7: Of Late Night Calls

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it. I also do not own Juno.

**FF Summary**: One night Helga thought would be of no consequence ends up changing her and Arnold's life forever.

**Story Summary**: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.

This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!

**Warnings**: This will be rated high T for content, language and mild adult situations. It may be bumped up to an M rating for later chapters.

So enjoy, first HA on this account, but all my old ones were crap : P

*******PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE AT END OF CHAPTER.*******

* * *

Chapter 7

Of Late Night Phone Calls and Acceptance

* * *

**Tuesday.**

_"Arnold, Arnold sweetie you need to wake up."_

Arnold mumbled as he was shaken awake by his mother's voice. The glaring lights of his room were too bright, and he threw an arm over his eyes, "Mom? What's going on? What time is it?"

"Arnold, Helga is in the hospital," she calmly reported.

The blonde bolted up, his eyes furiously trying to adjust, "_What_? What do you _mean_ she's in the hospital? _**What happened**_?"

Arnold had already tossed his bed sheets aside, not bothering to replace his sleep pants for jeans and focused on pulling on his shoes.

Stella, remaining as calm as she could replied, "She…Olga told me that Helga had some bleeding."

Arnold stumbled as he made a grab for his jacket, "No…_no_," he rubbed his face sluggishly, "Mom, why was **Olga** calling _you_?"

"She told me that she and Helga couldn't get a hold of you. They're already at the hospital. That's when Olga was able to look up the Boarding house's number."

While his mom relayed this to him, he had managed to pull on his jacket and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. Just below 12:23am it showed 9 missed calls.

"_Shit_," he hissed out angrily and went to reach for his keys.

"Arnold no, come on. I'm going to drive you."

"Mom-

"Sweetie, you can't drive like this. Come on, we'll get there as fast as we can."

* * *

**En route…**

Arnold sat tensely in his seat, every part of him screaming for movement of any kind. When the approaching light barely settled on yellow before changing to red, he could only wish he had something to hit and settled for the dashboard and while swearing ripely.

"Honey, just take it easy-

"_How_ am I supposed to _do_ that, mom? _How_ can you even _expect_ me to-for God's _Sake_, she was **trying** to **call **me."

Stella glanced over at her son as he buried his face in his hands, "Honey, whether you had your phone on or not, it wouldn't change this. We'll get you to her as _soon _as we can and just take it from there."

"_Mom_," Arnold moaned quietly, but couldn't voice anything beyond that.

"Just…don't start panicking, Arnold. Just hold out on that right now. Okay? Can you do that?"

Arnold collected himself for a moment before resolutely nodding. Not long after, his eyes caught the hospital just ahead, and he quickly sat up with his hand already bracing at the handle, "**Mom**!"

"Okay, Arnold I'm going to pull up to the E.R. entrance and you'll just hop on out. I'll come find you after I've parked."

Arnold merely nodded and unbuckled his seat-belt. No sooner had Stella pulled up to the curb, was Arnold flying out and in through the doors.

He didn't slow until he reached the desk, "I need the room for Helga Pataki? She just came in-

"Excuse me, young man but are you a relative?" the front desk woman inquired.

Arnold slumped anxiously, "Well, **no **but-

"I'm _sorry_, but relatives _only_-

"_**No**_! No…**look**, she's _pregnant _and I'm the father. She just came in here in the last twenty minutes or so-

"Alright, yes she's on the 2nd floor, room 237..." the woman trailed off as she watched the blonde hurry towards the stairs.

He managed to dodge several personnel as he tried to locate Helga's room, but when he finally saw the numbers getting closer to his destination he couldn't help but slow down with trepidation.

He finally approached the room, and its door flew open as a doctor briskly walked down the hall. Arnold took slow breaths as he came to the open doorway and looked in.

And there, sitting on a hospital bed all by herself was Helga. And she was silently crying.

Arnold felt his heart plummet and his knees wobble. He put his hand on the door-frame to brace himself as he choked out, "Helga? _Oh, God_…is, Helga is the baby…?" He couldn't even finish asking. He struggled to _breathe_. Just a few _days_ ago they had seen it for the first time; saw the **heart** beat. That couldn't be _gone_, could it?

"_Helga_-

She shook her head as she looked over to him, "I didn't lose the baby," and she let out a single, relieved sob.

Arnold felt himself sag against the frame, barely keeping himself upright but feeling an overwhelming rush of relief. Yet a glance over to Helga revealed her relieved sob had turned into terrified ones, and he quickly crossed over to kneel beside the bed.

He reached out to cover her tightly clasped hands, "Okay…Okay, Helga. We're alright, everything is all right. Baby's fine, right?"

Helga subtly nodded, and she pulled a hand out to reach over for a tissue. She kept her other hand desperately in his; not out of some lovesick episode like from her youth, but because she has never felt this scared in her life and she's terrified that if she lets go, he'll leave and she'll be all alone.

"**Don't** you _ever_ leave you phone on silent _**again**_!" She sobbed angrily, and she glared down at him, "Do you **hear** me? _Don't_…don't you _ever_…!" She only began to cry harder, and already a headache was forming.

Arnold was quick to slide on to the edge of the bed and embrace her from the side, "I know, I'm sorry. I'm **so**, _so sorry_. I will _never_ leave it on silent again, okay? From _here_ on out, its at maximum volume, **all **the time. I promise."

Helga felt pathetic as she sniffed and used her tissue, "I felt so alone. I just…I _needed _you to get here and I thought…I thought I was miscarrying and that I'd be alone…"

When she started to cry again, Arnold held her a little tighter and stroked her hair comfortingly, "I don't ever want you to be alone and scared like this ever _again_. I'm…_God_, Helga I'm so _sorry _that this happened."

"I know. Me, _too_."

She had begun to settle down a little bit and he eased her back so he could actually look at her. Still keeping a comforting hand stroking her hair, he asked, "Are the doctors keeping you over night? Mom said something about bleeding."

"I noticed it when I had to get up to use the bathroom just before midnight. It wasn't _bright_ red…but it wasn't a very dark, **dark **red either. And, I didn't have any cramping, but I can only realize that more calmly **now** whereas _before_…all I saw was the red and I panicked."

"Is this normal?"

She gave a nod, "Oh…_well_, um…I guess spotting during pregnancy isn't _un_common. It has something to do with where the baby is attached to the uteri an wall, and it can pull away slightly and that's what the spotting is from," Helga waved a tired hand, "Or _something _like that. To be honest, once they told me the baby was still okay I sort of tuned everything else out. They do want to run an ultrasound just to be sure, though."

"Well, I'm alright with that," Arnold lightly smiled. He was happy to see her offer a small one in return, and she leaned and relaxed against his chest. However, Arnold could still feel a tenseness there, and in an effort to help ease some of her stress he said, "I cursed in front of my mom."

A pause.

"Really?" Helga responded in amusement.

"_Twice_."

That actually got a laugh out of her.

* * *

The ultrasound was a welcomed test, and Arnold held firmly to Helga's hand throughout the whole exam. The two shared sighs of relief when the screen showed the little raisin shape, and the movement of the heart beat going strong.

Helga was released, and Arnold made sure she was in Olga's car before turning with his mother to head to theirs.

Stella wrapped an arm around her son, "How are you holding up?"

Arnold sighed tiredly, "A lot better than I was about an hour ago. Mom," he stalled by the door, "I…how do you stop from being scared all the time? When did it stop for you and dad?"

Stella looked thoughtfully at him, "Oh, sweetie. That never stops."

* * *

**Tuesday morning; 8:01 am.**

"Hey."

Helga glanced up to see a tired Arnold, "Hey. Manage to get any sleep?"

He absently rubbed at his eyes, "A little. What about you? I didn't even think you'd be here today."

Helga shrugged, "Yeah, well if I had stayed home then _Ol_-ga would have insisted that she stay home, too. And, let's just face it: I would have killed her," Helga stated matter-of-factly. Arnold gave a small chuckle before she continued on, "_So_, here I am! Besides, I feel fine. It helps to keep my mind busy," Helga concluded as she began collecting the necessary notebooks and binders, and snuck another glance at him only to see a concerned frown on his face. She rolled her eyes, "_And_, if I feel less than what's ideal, I'll go lay down in the nurses office. _Okay_?"

Arnold nodded, "Okay."

Satisfied, Helga grabbed her books and began to wordlessly hand them over to Arnold, "Where's your phone?"

"Uh…" Arnold maneuvered the books so he could reach into his pocket, "Right here. Why?"

As he was asking, she had pulled out her own and began to send him something, "Hand it over for a sec, would ya?"

He raised an eyebrow, but did as she asked, "It's on at its max level, if that's what you're wondering."

When the notification went off, that was confirmed but Helga shook her head, "Nope, just hold on," Helga started pressing the screen, "Oh, and I'm not _so_ mean that I'd demand you have it on max while you're in class," she handed him back his phone, "you can just keep it on _vibrate _for that."

Arnold looked apprehensively at Helga when she smirked, "What did you _do_?"

She gave a nonchalant shrug as she messed with her own phone, "Just gave myself a personalized ringtone. This way, you'll know _exactly _who it is when I text or call you. Listen," she said, and her eyes were shining with their signature, devious spark.

A moment later, Arnold's phone went off, "**I still have your underwear.**_** I still have your virginity**_."

Arnold flushed and looked appalled at the phone, and then Helga. Doing his best to ignore a couple stares from peers close by, he put his phone away and stared incredulously at the blonde, "_Helga_! What…where'd did you even _find _something like that?"

Helga sighed in exasperation, "Kid, we _really _need to get together so I can show you the movie Juno."

Arnold looked at her in confusion, "What would a movie about _Alaska _have anything to do with us?"

Helga gave him a bland stare, "It's **not **about the city in Alaska."

"Oh," he shrugged, "Well, speaking of getting together: My mom would like to have you over for dinner this Friday."

Helga shut her locker uneasily, "She would?"

"Yeah, and its best to just accept the invitation _now_ because if you _don't_, then she'll just relentlessly _call_ and _bug_ you…she **may **even show up at your door until you agree to it," Arnold smirked and gave her his half-lidded gaze, "She's pretty persistent."

Helga crossed her arms, "_Humph_, so **that's **where you get it from."

Cheerfully, Arnold began to walk with her to class, "Guess so."

Helga sighed, "_Just _dinner?"

"Yep! I'd pick you up after 5, and I'd have you back no later than 7:30."

"Oh, you don't need to-

"Helga," Arnold interrupted plainly, "I'd rather **not **get a lecture from my mom."

"Fine, whatever _floats_ your boat, _Football_ _Head_."

Arnold smiled softly, "Great. I told mom that you were allergic to strawberries, but is there anything else? Or any foods that are just not doing it for you right now?"

Helga lightly blushed. He **actually** remembered what she was allergic to? How _sweet _is he?

"Helga?"

"Oh! Uh, you know off the top of my head I can't think of anything. But, I'll let you know tonight or something. Now, quit _crowding _me Hair Boy."

* * *

**Wednesday, 3:03 p.m.**

"Alright, boys! Are we ready to get to this or what?" Stella asked enthusiastically as she put her safety goggles on.

Gerald quirked an eyebrow, "Your mom is _way _to excited about demo-ing stuff, bro."

Arnold shrugged, "We used to build homes and help out with home repairs in San Lorenzo all the time. Feels good to have a project again."

"It ain't my _usual_ work," Mr. Potts quipped, "But it _sure _is nice to smash at something."

As he made to grab the sledgehammer, Stella snatched it up first, "Let's not waste anymore time, _shall _we?"

As she angled toward the couch panel, Gerald went in a frenzy and grabbed the handle as she pulled to swing, "Are you _crazy_, woman? You can't just go _Detroit_-ing the couch! **What** is _wrong _with you?"

Stella looked surprised over to Arnold, then to Miles, then to Arnold again, "Um…is he okay?"

Arnold rolled his eyes before grabbing the remote. Pushing the button to flip the couch out, Arnold gave an unamused look over at Gerald, "I _thought _we'd gotten your final goodbyes out of the way when you stayed the night on Sunday?"

"This ain't **about** that! Did…did you not just _see_ what she was trying to **do?**" He looked at Stella sternly, "_Show some respect_, would ya?"

The women rolled her eyes as she lowered the tool, "You're being really weird about that couch, Gerald."

* * *

**Friday, 5:36 p.m.**

"Oh, wait a minute!" Arnold called out to Helga as she started up the stoop to the Boarding House.

"What, you need to open that door for me, _too_?" Helga taunted.

Arnold met her on the step with a half-lidded, bland stare, "How long have you known me?"

She quirked a brow before carelessly shrugging, "_Touche_."

He rolled his eyes, "Aside from that, I mostly just didn't want you bowled over by the obnoxious amount of animals that are probably waiting to get out."

At that, he slightly ushered her behind him and he opened the door. Sure enough, the frenzy of animals flew out passed them and down the street. Arnold looked to see Helga wearing a wide-eyed look before offering him a glance, "Good call."

He returned it with an-I-told-you-so grin, before gesturing her inside, "Whoever's in hearing range: We're here!" he called out as he took Helga's sweater and his own jacket to hang up.

"Hi, sweetie! Be right out!" Arnold's mom yelled from the kitchen.

"Here, we can get settled in the family room. Everyone will be making their way down here pretty soon-Well, _except_ the Kokoschka's. They uh…made some _other _plans for tonight," Arnold finished. Truth was, they needed to get Oscar out of the house to ensure he wouldn't blab about the renovations getting done to Arnold's room.

Helga tensed, "Oh…_everyone _is having dinner together? All the boarders?"

Arnold nodded as they headed into the room, "Everyone is always invited to dinner. It's mostly just the long-term boarders that end up joining us; the temps usually keep to themselves."

"Well, I'm sure we'd get to talk to them plenty at dinner. Couldn't we just…wait up in your room or something?"

"**No**!" Arnold responded quickly, but after Helga gave him a strange look, he stuttered an excuse, "Uh…its just that, my room…my room is really-messy! Yeah, its _messy _right now."

Helga scoffed, "I don't **care **if your room is a mess, Arnoldo-

"But, I _do_! So, we'll just hang out down here."

"_But_-

"Helga! Good to finally see you again!" Arnold's dad greeted with a smile that was so eerily similar to his son's.

Helga blushed, "Yes, its…certainly been a while. Thank you very much for having me over, Mr. Shortman."

Miles waved it off, "Please, none of that here. I'd be happy if you called me Miles. And it's a pleasure to have you over."

"There she is!" Stella zeroed in on the blonde girl before pulling her into a hug. Helga was caught so off guard, she almost immediately returned it for lack of anything else to do. The brunette pulled Helga back and beamed, "I'm _so_ excited to finally have you _over_! Now, just tell me if anything smells just not right. I kept to what you texted Arnold, but believe me, I _know _how quickly that stuff changes!"

Helga stammered, "Uh, no everything is just fine. Thank you for going through all the trouble-

"Hardly a trouble at all. Only trouble, as always, is keeping Miles or Phil from _lurking _in the kitchen, hoping for an early taste."

Miles shrugged sheepishly, and again, reminded Helga so much of Arnold, "You'd think I'd learn after all these years that it's a futile attempt."

"All _I_ know is when you've had all the years of Pookie's cooking, you'd be trying to swipe _anything _from the kitchen that wasn't watermelon," Phil chuckled as he walked in from the kitchen with a biscuit in hand.

"_Phil_!" Stella snapped as she swiped the bread from him, "You _sneaky _old coot! You'll wait, like everybody else, to eat!" And with that, she stalked back to the kitchen.

"_Can't_ a _man_ eat **biscuits** in his _own_, **darn** _house _anymore?" Phil griped.

Miles threw an arm over his dad's shoulders and gave a good-natured squeeze, "Sure he can! With the rest of the family at dinner time."

"She's got you whipped, son."

"Oh, Eleanor! I had no idea you'd be stopping through today! Keeping busy at the White House, I'm sure."

While Arnold only looked puzzled, Helga smiled brightly before going over to Gertie, "Oh you know how it is. Can't leave that Teddy alone for a second."

"Can't leave _any _man alone for a second," the woman conspiratorially winked, and Helga laughed.

All three men noticed the interaction, though continued on as if nothing had happened. When dinner was finally ready, the Shortmans', Helga and the boarders all sat down and began the usual routine. Helga was seated beside Gertie and Arnold, and witnessed the strangest meal she had ever had. The food was good, but the company was just…such an _odd_ mixture of personalities. But for the first time in what Helga thinks is _ever_, she actually felt almost at home.

And the thought terrified her a little.

When Arnold prepared to take her home, Stella had hugged Helga _so_ tight that the girl had mourned for the relationship she would never have with her own mother. And when Miles had given her that genuine smile, had told her she was always welcome, she wished she would have felt so welcomed in her **own** home. Phil had not been afraid to make the jibes at his grandson's expense when it came to the pregnancy, and had taken on the challenge of a battle of wits with Helga. Plus, God new, Helga _adored _Arnold's grandma. And the boarders were great, all in their own, quirky way.

She was silent the whole way home, and Arnold was a little uneasy. His biggest fear was that his large family had scared her off; that she'd never consider living with him now after seeing that circus act.

God, his grandpa could be **so** _embarrassing_!

He pulled up to Olga's place, and got out. Helga had no quips or snide remarks about him opening her door, or walking her up the steps which only made him more nervous.

Finally, after she had said goodnight and was opening the front door, Arnold blurted out, "I hope my family didn't uh…I know they can be a _little _overwhelming, but they mean well. I …I just didn't want them to make you feel uncomfortable or anything."

"_Oh_, it was definitely interesting," Helga muttered.

Arnold's shoulders slumped a little, "Oh. Well…I know they aren't the most…_conventional _family-

Helga stopped Arnold with a hand on his arm. Surprised, he looked up and saw Helga looking seriously at him.

"Arnold, you're family is…you have a _wonderful _family," She finished sincerely, and even offered him a small smile.

He returned it, "Wonderful enough to come over again? Maybe next Saturday, after your 8 week appointment?"

"Sure, Football Head."

* * *

**Before I saying anything about this ending, I just need to say I've got the best readers ever. You guys are so awesome, and a HUGE reason for why I'm feeling so inspired to keep at this story. Thank you all so much for reading this.**

**Aaaaand, sorry for the ending. It seems a little blah to me, but I can promise that the next chapter will have some Arnold/Helga tension stuff. The good kind of tension. It'll be a nice springboard for the following chapters. This story _may_ get bumped up to an M rating, but nothing super explicit-I'm gonna try to keep it classy. I'll also be sure to put up some warnings so those who aren't interested, can skip those parts.**

**I'll be sure to let you guys know for sure by next chapter whether it will get the M rating from the next chapters and on.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**L2WF247**


	8. Chapter 8: Of New Rumors

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it. I also don't own iCarly, which inspired a couple of lines in this chapter.

FF Summary: One night Helga thought would be of no consequence ends up changing her and Arnold's life forever.

Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.

This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!

Warnings: This will be rated high T for content, language and mild adult situations. It may be bumped up to an M rating for later chapters.

So enjoy, first HA on this account, but all my old ones were crap : P

* * *

**THIS CHAPTER IS RATED 'M' FOR:**

**FOUL & CRUDE LANGUAGE**

**and**

**SOME SENSUALITY **

*******PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER*******

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

**Of New Rumors and New Additions**

* * *

**Monday; Passing period before lunch.**

"Man, I _still_ can't believe we managed to get **all **that stuff done for the room this weekend," Gerald said as he leaned against the locker beside Arnold's.

The blonde smiled, "I told you this kind of stuff isn't that hard. Especially with so many hands involved."

"We're gonna start the painting tonight, right?"

Arnold nodded, "Yeah, dad said he and Grandpa were going to working on some of it a little before-

"Hey, Arnold!" Sid sidled up, looking a mixture of anxious and excited, " Boy howdy, it really sucks…that thing about Helga. I'm so sorry, dude."

Arnold looked at him strangely, "Sid, what are you talking about?"

Sid's expression showed one of slight distress, "Oh shit…you mean, you haven't even _heard _yet?"

"Heard **what**, _Beetle_ _Boots_?" Gerald sneered.

Sid sighed, "Look, word is that Helga was _actually_ seen with some _other_ guy at a party that Friday night. That _he _was actually the one to knock her up, not you-

"No way man, you've got it all wrong," Arnold cut off, "I _know _I was with Helga that night."

"That's the other half of it, Arnold. This **whole** thing came out because Tara Samuels was the girl who went upstairs with you at Rhonda's party, _not_ Helga. Story is that Helga _saw_ Tara sneaking out later, and-**hey**, where are you going!"

"To find Rhonda!" Arnold threw over his shoulder.

When he reached the girl's room he knew she frequented for her gossip meetings, he pounded impatiently, "Open up, Rhonda! We need to talk!"

The raven haired fashionista came out, her eyes wide, " Arnold…one second," she turned back into the bathroom where Arnold could make out the sound of crying, "I'll be right back, okay?"

Arnold stood impatiently, "What the heck are you trying to _pull_, Rhonda?"

"_Me_?" she questioned, "I didn't start this, Arnold! I swear! **Tara** came to _me_. She told me everything. I've been checking my sources **all** morning, and that's how I heard about Helga's stint with that _grody _Bass Harmon from P.S. 120. One of my sources goes to that school, and when I checked in with them they described a girl of Helga's appearance at their party the night before mine," she finished by placing a hand defiantly on her hip.

"That's ridiculous, **why **would Helga even be there-

Rhonda held up a hand, "_Again_, the reason for my digging, and thus, recovering this information was a result of Tara's confession. I went into the bathroom this morning before class to touch up my make-up, and see her in there doing the same. I complimented her on her suede kicks and she just all of a sudden _bursts_ into hysterical, _ugly _tears!"

Arnold rubbed his temples, "For _God's Sake_, Rhonda I don't even _know _her!"

The teen shrugged, "She told me you guys went upstairs and had sex. She remembered seeing Helga downstairs still when she left, but didn't think Helga had seen her. Monday came around, and she kept losing her nerve to try and talk to you…" at this, Rhonda gave Arnold a pointed look, "she says you guys have last period together."

"I've never _talked _to her-

"**And** she felt that either you just didn't _remember_ or didn't _care_-

"You've got to be _kidding _me-

"_Obviously _she doesn't know you very well," Rhonda offered before continuing on, "Anyways, after the whole 'Helga being pregnant thing' she felt really bad when you ended up taking the fall for it. Tara is about the same height as Helga, and they've both got the blonde hair, blue eyes. I guess Tara has just been going around feeling guilty for it all," Rhonda grabbed Arnold's shoulders and looked at him intently, "Helga's been playing you Arnold."

He shook his head vehemently, and jerked from her grasp, "Helga would _never_ do something like this. She tried to **keep** it from me! Why would she tell her sister it was me, if it weren't _true_?" he challenged.

Rhonda gave a lift of her shoulder, "Bass is _hardly_ anyone to be proud of boning, Arnold. Already screwing up, I _guess_ she figured she'd have at least _one _redeeming quality about the baby. Who better than to say its yours?"

"_Christ_, Rhonda."

"Arnold," she sighed softly, "I _truly_ don't think Helga ever intended for you to find out. But when you did, and the scene that came with it…any woman in her position I think is a little bit desperate. Bass would've been a deadbeat. _You _on the other hand, would've been the model father. Every knocked up girl's dream," Rhonda finished.

Arnold spared a disgusted glance, "You and Helga may not have always gotten along…but after all the years you've known her, you're siding with some _girl_ who barely knows **any** of us?" When all Rhonda could do was blink in surprise at him, he shook his head, "God, I'm _so _disappointed in you Rhonda. I really am."

With that, he turned and left in search of Helga. When he found her, she was more or less surrounded by a number of peers. She was, with her signature scowl, trying to make her way to the lunch room while being hounded by the remarks of the students.

Arnold shoved his way through and pulled at Helga's arm, "Come on, we need to have a talk."

"Oh for Christ's Sake," Helga griped as she was tugged through the crowd, mentally taking names for her 'Post-Partum Beat-downs' list.

Arnold finally dragged her into an unused Janitor's closet with an old desk in the middle of it. He slammed the door behind him and flipped the lock, then the light.

Helga whirled on him, "_Hey_! **What's** the big _idea_, _Football_ Head? **No** one drags **me** into _my _own office!"

"Oh, _save_ _it _Helga," Arnold said exasperatedly.

Helga sniffed, crossed her arms and leaned on the desk, "_So_, I guess you've heard the new rumors floatin' around, _huh_?"

"This Tara girl have something against you?"

Helga gave him a bored look, "I'm sure _anyone_ could find _something_ to hold against me, _Arnoldo_."

"What do you have to say about what's going around?" Arnold asked, and while his voice was even he was very tense.

"The evidence seems pretty **stacked **against me," Helga forced out; inside she was dying to just scream.

He gave her a slanted look, "You're not even going to _try _to defend yourself?"

"Would it make any **difference**, _Hair_ _Boy_?" she snapped.

Arnold gave her an heated stare, "No, I guess it wouldn't. But that's because I know something that no one _else _does. Something that proves the truth. But," Arnold gave a nonchalant shrug, yet his body language showed irritation, "since you won't stand up for yourself…" Arnold's eyes hardened and he shoved her farther on the desk, "I guess I'll just have to confirm this for myself."

Helga's eyes were wide, and she felt her jaw wanting to unhinge, "_Wha_-what do you mean?"

Arnold was so close to her, she could feel his breath mix with her own, "While some things of that night are still pretty _fuzzy_, there are a _few_ things I remember _very _clearly," Arnold said in a low voice, and his hands were at her thighs, spreading them apart and causing her lilac colored dress to rise.

"_Arnold…what are you doing?_" Helga managed to breathe out. She felt flushed, her chest felt heavy and **God**, her skinned _burned _where his hands gripped.

He kept his eyes on hers, "Just confirming what I already know."

At that, his hand slid further up her thigh and pushing the dress higher up. Helga felt heat pooling low in her belly, and was doing everything in her power to keep her breath steady. Her fingers curled into her palms in an attempt to keep them from pulling him to her. It was only a few seconds that this went on for, but God it felt like _eternity_.

She felt the pad of his thumb brush her inner thigh, and a small noise escaped from her mouth. Better that then the moan that was dying to cry out from her throat.

"_There_," Arnold whispered.

"_**What?**_" Helga gasped.

Without looking up, Arnold explained, "I remembered this birthmark."

Helga looked down to see the half crescent mark where his hand rested above, "You remembered **that**?" her voice was incredulous, but still a little breathless.

"Well, the last time I saw it, it was _significantly _closer in range," Arnold's smirk was almost cheeky as he glanced up. It was at that moment when he noticed how close in proximity he was to Helga. He took stock of her rosy cheeks, her cloudy eyes, and the way her breath came just a little bit to hard. He noticed these things in a moment and his hands tightened in an involuntary response.

It was enough to make Helga blink and see the situation in a new light. Mentally shaking her head, Helga cleared her throat and managed, "So, do you think maybe the _next_ _time_ you wanna get a little _frisky_, you give me some **warning **before hand?"

Arnold blinked and looked down at his hands, and saw the way Helga's dress was barely covering where her legs met, and how all the milky white skin was beginning to make him feel a little lightheaded. Shaking his head, he removed his hands as though he'd been burned (and he had, hadn't he? Her skin had been so _warm_) and he backed away until he met the wall.

"S-sorry, Helga," he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess I got a little…carried away?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Helga mumbled to herself, fixing her dress while thinking of a long ago tango.

"What was that?"

"_Nothing_," Helga snapped as she slid off the desk and folded her arms, "So, what would you have done if that birthmark **hadn't **been there?"

Arnold gave her a serious look, "Helga, I didn't _need_ to see that to know. Despite how this whole thing even happened…I know what you told me was true," Arnold took a hesitant step in her direction, "All these people who buy into these rumors? They don't know you. But **I** _do_, and I know you wouldn't have done something like this to me. Intentional or otherwise," he finished off with a small smile.

Helga looked down to hide her smile and shuffled her feet, "You're such a pathetic optimist, Arnold."

He sidled over to her and bumped her shoulder, "Yeah…but I'm also right."

She rolled her eyes, but offered him a grin, "So, what? We go flashing everyone my thighs to get them to shut up?"

Arnold gave her an admonished, "Absolutely not! _I'm _the only one that gets to know about that," he teased.

"Okay, then what do you propose we _do_? They won't take me at my word, and they'll just think you're a poor sap for defending me."

Arnold stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged, "I don't care what they think. Fact of the matter is: I would never take their word over yours," he looked sincerely at her, "You've…you've come through for me too many times for someone to change my mind about you, Helga. Not even _Gerald _ever could," he said with a laugh.

"You…you really mean that, Arnold?"

He nodded with a smile, "Yeah, Helga I do," he saw her turn away and looked at her suspiciously. As he approached her, he asked, "Helga…Helga, you're not _crying_are you?"

She sniffed, "_No_, don't be ridiculous!" Helga sniffed again and could practically feel the 'yeah right' stare on her back, "Its just, sometimes your **stupid**, Football Headed _monologues_…they're so _pathetic_, it just gets me a little **emotional **sometimes."

When she looked back up at him defiantly with eyes shining a little, he smirked, "The pregnant and hormonal part probably doesn't help."

"_Doi_, Football Head!" She fixed him with what was supposed to be a menacing glare, "And ya better watch how you _man_ _handle_ me next time. With these hormones I could've been a blubbering mess, but I could've just as easily **decked **you! Or even…" Her glare turned into a considering look.

Arnold shifted a little bit under her gaze, "_Uh_ Helga? You're _kind _of…" he gave her a knowing look, "You're going to kiss me again, aren't you?"

At that, she snapped out of it and nearly sneered, "Shut up," she jerked his collar to yank him down and met his lips soundly. As always, Arnold was caught off guard by the forwardness of the blonde, but he likes to think his recovery time is getting better. In an attempt to enjoy it (since, Helga will only get _more _hormonal, and this seems to be a trend for her) he starts to shift closer, but when he does, she pulls away.

Arnold finds himself, literally, taking matters into his own hands. No sooner had Helga broken away, that Arnold's hands cup her face to bring her back so he could for once in his life (that he can _remember_, anyway) give a response to one of Helga's spontaneous kisses (although, to his credit, he _did _have to play dead for two of them).

The response is almost immediate; she _may_ have even squeaked. Her hands are at his wrists, and her mouth is avid against his. He feels something…he can't explain it, and it wasn't what he was expecting…but then again, he didn't know _what _to expect when it came to Helga.

He's not completely sure he'd have been able to recall his own name as this was happening, but he **does** know he has this overwhelming urge to take the kiss deeper, take this embrace deeper. To _what_, he's not sure; the memories of what the possibility could be like are locked away tightly, but he feels his body would remember just fine if they would just-

"_Whoa_, there!" Helga slapped a hand on his chest and forced him a few steps back. The abrupt cut off of their kiss had all the thoughts fleeing back to that primal part of his brain, leaving him feeling dizzy, aroused, flustered and confused.

"Helga…"

"Let's get _one_ thing straight, **bucko**," Helga pointed a finger at his chest and glared up at him, daringly close, "_I'm_ the one here with pregnancy hormones running haywire. _I_ get to make stupid moves like that. **Go it**?"

"Whatever you say, Helga," Arnold resigned, mentally shaking the last of those heady thoughts. This was _Helga_, after all. She doesn't **actually **want this with him, and he wants nothing more than to respect that.

"_Ugh_, we've been in here _way_ too long now," she squinted accusingly over at Arnold, "no thanks to _you_, Mr. Frisky."

Arnold rolled his eyes, "Once they see we're not buying into the rumors, they'd probably go around saying we were making out in here anyway."

Helga raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms, "Arnold, I'm _pregnant_ here. They're gonna think it was _a lot _more than just some make out session."

Arnold's eyes widened and he blushed, "Oh come _on_, Helga. They would _not_."

As she headed for the door, she offered him a pitying glance, "Oh, _Arnold_. You poor, naïve, _home_ _schooled_, Football Head. They're **totally **going to think we just did the deed."

"_Helga_!"

* * *

**End of Lunch.**

Arnold, after asking around, finally found who he was looking for.

"Tara Samuels?"

The blonde girl looked up and her eyes went wide as saucers, but she quickly looked down at her feet, "Arnold…I, look I'm _so _sorry you had to find out this way-

"Save it," Arnold cut off.

Her head snapped back up, and her face was the picture of surprise and innocence, "But, you-

Arnold stepped a little closer, and kept his voice low enough for only her to hear, "I want you to drop the story you've been telling."

"It's _not _a story…!" Tara insisted.

"You and I **both** know that you're lying," Arnold said very slowly, noting how the girl visibly paled, "Now…I don't know _why_ you decided to spread this story. I really can't fathom why **any** girl would want to spread a rumor like **this** about _themselves_. I don't know what Helga _may_ have done to you, and frankly, I don't _care_.

"As far as I know, this is the _first_ _time_ I'm ever meeting you. So, _quit_ spreading this **rumor** that something happened between us, when we **both** know it's a _lie_. Have I made myself clear?"

Tara nodded slowly.

* * *

**Passing before last period; in class.**

Gerald had only briefly touched base with Arnold, but what he heard was enough.

Helga's story was the true one.

Plus, it didn't hurt that Fuzzy Slippers had texted him back on the matter with the confirmation.

_Still_, having a handful of people actually believing Helga didn't really amount to much when the majority of the school thought otherwise. Which became apparent when Helga walked into class and the whole room fell silent.

It caused her to only falter for a split second, but she kept her head up as she made her way back to her seat. When people openly stared back and forth at her, she snarled, "What the heck are you _chuckleheads _looking at?"

"Looks to me like _nothing_," Josh Mackey sneered.

"That's what the girls say about your _dick_," Helga shot back.

Gerald held back the bark of laughter threatening to come out as he glanced around. Their teacher, true to their habit, was running late.

"Lookin' like you've seen a fair share of them," Betty Collins tittered.

"I'm looking at a _room_ **full **of them," Helga hissed at the girl.

"That's a lot of talk from somebody who can't do much action with it," Josh jeered.

"Well, talking seems to be all you **assholes** can _do_," Gerald snapped.

Everyone's eyes, including Helga's, snapped to him.

Josh glared at him, "You got something to say, Johanssen?"

Gerald shoved out of his seat, "_Oh_, I got _plenty_ to say. But, I'll just offer you all some _valuable _information:

"My man, Fuzzy Slippers says Tara is full of _shit_. And that Helga may be a bitch, but she's an _honest_ bitch. And that he's got connections and eyes so far and wide…bro could find mother fuckin' **dirt** on _Jesus_. So go ahead, and spread your little _lies_ and shit about Helga. Because that's painting a big ol' target on your backs. Fuzzy Slippers has **my** back, and **I** have Arnold's. And _guess_ who _he _looks out for these days.

"So ya'll better just keep to yourselves, because Helga ain't gonna just _forget_ about you little shits and what you did to her once she ain't pregnant anymore. But until then, ya'll should probably take stalk of all the dirt _your_ hiding, and **think** nobody knows about," at that Gerald plopped down, "_Mm_-_mm_-**mmm**! Ya'll are a bunch of-

"Sorry I'm late class! Let's get out our books, and…"

* * *

After class, Helga sauntered over to Gerald's desk, "I gotta say, _Johanssen_ I'm pretty impressed. Although, you forgot the part about wanting world fucking peace, and ending world hunger...for the children," she pretended to ponder, "My only question is _how _you're going to mange to hide you penis for the swimsuit round."

Gerald spared her a single glance, "Shut the fuck up, Pataki."

When he stood up with his bag, Helga moved aside, "I _must_ know, what on _earth _inspired that defense of my honor?" She asked and fluttered her eyelashes.

He turned towards her, "_Look_, you made my childhood a living Hell, ya got my best friend tangled up in the lifelong commitment of **parenthood**, _**and** _ya cost me a couch-

"What the hell are you-

"_But_," he cut her off sharply, "There is _no_ _way_ I'm going to let **anyone **screw around with the mama of my future niece or nephew."

Helga had a look of amazement, "Wow, Gerald. That…thanks," Helga elbowed him lightly, "for invoking the all powerful Fuzzy Slippers on them all."

"Yeah…but let's never speak of this again."

"Deal."

* * *

**Saturday, 4:25 p.m. 8 weeks Pregnant.**

"Wow, that was a lot more extensive than the last time," Arnold quipped as he waited for the light.

"Ha, _seriously_."

Arnold cleared his throat, "Found out a lot more about your cycle than I think was necessary."

Helga snorted, "That's nothing compared to eventually watching a _baby _come out of me."

"Hmm, good point."

"…It's kinda crazy how much more you can see of the baby now, isn't it?" Helga asked, almost shyly.

Arnold only grinned as he pulled up to the boarding house, "Definitely! I can't believe only two weeks ago it barely even _visible_! Now we can sort of really see our baby."

He got out and went around to her side, and they went through the routine of letting the animals out before heading inside.

"We're home!" Arnold called out, though didn't expect to hear anything back.

"Where is everyone?"

"Uh, I have no idea what Grandma could be up to, Grandpa is probably downstairs, Dad…not sure, and Mom is probably still out grocery shopping."

"So…we just hang out down here again?"

Arnold smiled, "Actually, we could go up to my room until dinner or Mom comes to fuss over you."

Helga gave him a teasing, shocked stare, "Oh, did you clean your room? Just for _me_?"

He laughed, "I guess you could say that," As they started up towards his room, and Arnold fought off a wave of nerves.

Helga felt a little awkward in the silence and said, "I can't remember the last time I was even in your room. Is it still that retro theme?"

Ignoring the teasing in her voice, Arnold looked at her curiously, "You've been in my room?"

Helga nearly froze, "Uh…y-yeah! Of _course_ I've been in your room! Considering all the times we were paired up together, it'd kind of be weird if I _hadn't _been."

Arnold seemed to accept that, "Oh, right. I guess I can remember one or two occasions where you've been up here," as he pulled the attic string down to release the stairs, he gave her a slightly knowing smirk, "Although, there _have _been a few changes made since then."

"Oh yeah? Finally put your own bathroom up there?"

Arnold laughed, "That would certainly be nice, but no."

He opened the door and let her in first, watching as she took stalk of the room.

Her eyes were drawn to the sky light, eased by the sight of clouds rolling dreamily by, before dropping her gaze to where he slept. Giving a quick look about the room, she frowned. Looking back over to Arnold, she confessed, "Is it me, or does this room feel just a little smaller?"

Arnold closed the door behind him and did a glance around the room himself, "Well, I added a dresser over there by the bookshelf," he gestured to the left of his fire-escape window, "And Dad and I added on about a foot to the little…well 'stage' where my bed is. We put in a full size mattress when we moved back, so I guess it does make things seem a little smaller," Arnold conceded.

Helga made a small noise of agreement, and Arnold went over to her, "There is **one **really big change we made pretty recently, though."

"Yeah?"

Arnold nodded and motioned over to a door a little over a foot to the right of the main door.

Helga raised a brow and pointed curiously, "Isn't that…didn't you have like, a couch there?"

Arnold let out a sigh, "Yeah, but I think I'm gonna get a **lot** more use of this than I _ever _did from the couch," he said as he went over to open the door and gestured for Helga to go in.

Helga gave him a considering look before heading in. And then she stopped.

"What…what is this?" Helga gestured weakly before looking at Arnold as he came up behind her with a nervous smile.

"This is…it's a nursery."

"Nursery," she repeated, dumbfounded. She glanced around the room and saw, that yes, it was a nursery.

A small window had been added to give some natural light, and allow the space to appear bigger. Below it was a combination five drawer dresser and changing table. From Helga's right, was a little walk-in closet, which created a little hallway where she and Arnold stood. The floor was wood, and the walls were painted an off-white; no gender decorations yet. The left of the room had the red couch attached to a chest of sorts, with a little bookcase beside it, and a rocking chair tucked in the corner. A simple nightstand with a lamp was placed beside the chair, and Helga had no idea how an outlet had been fashioned into a wall that had certainly not been here too long ago. None of this space had been here on the occasions when Helga had crept and slunk up here. But look at it now. It was a beautiful _nursery_. Bland, but impossibly _beautiful_. Helga's eyes finally rested on the crib that stood adjacent to the dresser and she moved toward it.

Unable to help herself, she ran her hands over it and found the wood smooth. She looked over with watered eyes over at Arnold, "I…You did _all _of this? You really did all of this?"

Arnold walked over to her, "I wanted you to see that…I _needed _you to know I'm really in this. That I'm not going anywhere."

Helga shook her head, felt a couple tears fall, "Arnold, I didn't-

He held up a hand, "I know you _believed _me. But…I needed to do this."

Helga looked back at the, for now, empty crib and was annoyed with herself when she felt her chin tremble, "Arnold…this is _beautiful_. **All **of it."

Pleased, Arnold gestured to the crib, "This and the dresser were mine. We've got a bassinet, but it wasn't ready yet," Arnold shrugged with a smile, "We've still got time though. The rocking chair was Grandma's, and the couch has a big drawer you can pull out, so the baby's toys can…what's wrong?"

Helga was crying, though not hysterically quite yet, but she looked at Arnold and he could see she was terrified.

"This is really happening isn't it? Oh my _God_, Arnold this is **really** happening. You turned the couch into a toy box, and we're having a **baby**."

Arnold stared at her for a moment before pulling to him and let her cry for a few moments, "Yeah, Helga. This is really happening."

"Its like…something keeps happening that makes it _more_ and _more_ **real**," she sniffled.

"Well…one of those moments is about to happen again."

Helga pulled away from him a little to look up, "What do you mean?"

Arnold sighed before he stepped out of the embrace. He looked at her, looked down and took a deep breath, before looking at her again. She looked decidedly apprehensive.

"Helga, I built this nursery because I wanted you to know that our baby has a place to stay…but, I'd like for this to be a place for you to stay too."

"…What?"

Arnold let out another breath before he looked her right in the eyes, "Helga, I'm asking you to move in with me."

Helga's jaw dropped and she shook her head, "What? Wait…_wait_, you want me to _what_?"

"I just think that…_look_, raising a baby is _not_going to be easy, but we've agreed that we're going to do this together. Right?"

"Right," Helga said slowly.

"_So_, I figured that the smart thing to do would be to _live_ together before the baby gets here. That way, we can get _something _of a routine between each other and get used to each other and just…" he sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair, "I want us to be as prepared as possible. I know when we work together, it always takes a bit of time before we get…into the swing of things. I don't want to be doing that and dealing with a newborn. I thought this could give us a bit of a head start."

Helga stared at him with an unreadable expression for several moments, "Um…Olga, she might-

"I already gave her the head's up," Arnold winced when Helga's gaze snapped to his, "She said she just wants _you_ to feel the most comfortable as possible. She'd deal with your parents…and _those _sort of things if it came to that."

"You're really serious aren't you?"

"Yes, I really am."

Helga gave a tired snort, "Kid, you have _no _idea what you're getting into."

"I'll take the risk," Arnold said dryly.

Helga looked at him blandly, "I'm not sure you can handle this-

"I'm the _only _one that could handle this," Arnold shot back in annoyance.

Helga sighed and crossed her arms, looking around at the nursery again. Somehow she managed to contain all the jumbled emotions running amuck through her system.

When she finally looked back over to Arnold, she shrugged, "I could be all moved in by tomorrow evening."

Arnold's posture immediately perked up, "Really?"

Helga snorted, "Its not like I have a lot of stuff. **Hey**!" Helga tensed when she felt Arnold's arms wrap tightly around her. She let herself enjoy for a moment before shoving him away, "Who _said_ you could _touch_ me, _Football _Head?"

Arnold only grinned, "Sorry, Helga. Guess I just got carried away."

"Yeah well, if we're going to be living together, you be sure to keep your _hands_ to yourself, _got _it?"

* * *

**Sunday night; 9:46 p.m.**

"God, what a long day," Helga sighed as she flopped down on Arnold's bed.

Arnold was on the other side of the room, sitting in his computer chair, "As I recall: Gerald and I did a lot of the box lifting. I'm shocked and amazed at how many pairs of _shoes _you own."

"_Hey_," Helga lightly snapped, "I _may_ be an overbearing, fist waving bully, but I _enjoy_ embracing my femininity. _Sue _me."

Arnold rolled his eyes, "I hardly have **any** closet space, now too. And that's _including_ the full dresser you have in there, in **addition **to all the stuff that's hung up."

"Its _funny_, I remember hearing you say something yesterday about being able to handle all this," she said lightly while gesturing to herself.

"I want to mention, _again_, that I'm rooting for a boy."

"Its out of my hands, Shortman. In fact, you'd have no one to blame but yourself if it's a girl. That being the _man's _department and all."

"_Hmm_, right."

Helga yawned and sat up, looking a little nervous for the first time all day, "_So_…what exactly are we going to do about the sleeping thing?"

Arnold looked caught off guard, "Huh, good question."

Helga's brow furrowed, "Did your _parents _have anything to say about this?"

He shrugged, "They trust me, and it seems like they trust you. Considering you're already pregnant, I don't think that they're…_overly _concerned that we're sleeping in the same room."

"Same _bed_, though?"

Arnold's face reddened, "That's up to you."

"Where would you sleep, the _floor_?"

"I could, if you weren't comfortable sharing the bed," Arnold responded sincerely.

" But its **your **bed!"

Arnold pretending to give it a thought, "You're right. _You _sleep on the floor."

Helga rolled her eyes, "Look, its just…I'm not gonna be getting any smaller here. The bed already looks like it will be a tight fit. Its hardly going to be comfy."

Arnold shrugged again, "I slept on a cot for six years, I don't really care about where I sleep."

Helga sighed, "I don't want you to have to sleep on the floor."

He gave a small smile, "Well, I appreciate that."

They both just sat in silence for a few moments before Arnold shifted awkwardly. He stood up and headed over to his dresser to get out his night clothes. He grabbed his folded towel from the top of the dresser and turned towards Helga, "I'm just gonna go get ready for bed. I'll be up in a little while, okay?"

Helga let out a breath of relief, "Okay. Got a side preference?"

Arnold shook his head, "You?"

"I'll sleep on the edge, in case I need to get up in the middle of the night or something."

"Okay, well…goodnight."

"Goodnight."

With Arnold out of the room, Helga, who had already showered after dinner, went to the closet to change. Once in her bed clothes (her shirt was fitting a little more _snug _than it had a couple weeks ago) she turned off the lights and got into bed. She was still awake when Arnold made his way back up, but didn't make it known to him. They were trying to keep this as un-awkward as possible.

Arnold was quiet as he went about his business, before heading over to bed. He stepped over to the far right, foot of the bed and managed to slide under the covers and face the shelves beside his bed.

Helga had tensed once she felt him climb in, but it hadn't taken her as long as she thought to fall asleep.

Helga had woken up before the alarm had gone off, since it was the usual time her bladder demanded emptying. But, when she awoke, she found Arnold had managed to spoon her in his sleep.

'He's a cuddler. _Shocking_,' Helga thought sarcastically, but every other part of her was enjoying the moment. Her stupid bladder could wait just a bit longer.

She had actually begun to drift back off when Arnold's alarm went off, "_Hey, Arnold! Hey, Arnold! Hey, Arnold! Hey, Arn-_"

Arnold had woken up and, in an automatic move, turned over and unplugged the alarm with one hand. He didn't seem concerned that his other arm was trapped under Helga. In fact, it probably hadn't even occurred to him yet.

"Good _Lord_, is that what I'm going to have to wake up to every morning?" Helga grumbled as she sat up and stretched.

Arnold took in the view through half opened eyes, "Doesn't seem so bad to me."

Helga offered him an accusatory stare, "_You_ got awfully _cozy _last night."

Arnold rubbed at his eyes, "I can't help how I _sleep_, Helga."

"Well, as long as I never get woken up from your _land down under_, I'll let you get away with it," Helga responded in a falsely sweet voice.

Arnold felt his face heat up, "**Helga**-

"Save it, I gotta pee before the line starts forming."

* * *

**_Don't_ ask me where this chapter came from so quickly. I _literally_ wrote this monster yesterday in a matter of 4 hours. It _may_ even seem like that, so, I'm sorry if that was the case. Once I get something out, I have a hard time just letting it sit there on my computer with no one to read it. Its a real problem.**

**_Also_, don't ask me where the make out scene came from. I _swear_, I had _no_ idea it was going to happen! It was meant to end basically after Helga tells Arnold for some warning next time, but once I got to that point, the characters kind took over. Fellow writers, you know how that can be.**

**As a side note, I want to make clear that I _never_ intend to offend _anyone_, so if any of the language used in this chapter did, I am truly sorry. What I write is a reflection of how I think the characters would act and speak, but I personally don't speak that way. Just wanted to make that clear!**

**In regards to the RATING of the next following chapter (and any chapters similar in content to it) I am going to keep the STORY'S rating as 'T', but depending on the content within individual chapters, I will post the rating at the top (as I did with this one). The Adult Situation/Content will be, as I said before, kept "Classy". For reference, if anyone has ever read a Nora Roberts novel, think that. Typically a non-explicit (with no use of certain body parts being named and used repeatedly, and exact actions given in great detail) love scene. So, basically not smut.**

**If ANYONE, and I mean ANYONE reads and feels the STORY ITSELF should be changed to an 'M' rating, PLEASE let me know. I will change it immediately. **

**Again, I will post a warning at the beginning of the chapter, so if its not your cup of tea, you can scroll past it once you get to that part.**

**Hope you enjoyed this long, crazy chapter. Yeah, I agree it got a little soap opera-y but these kids always had drama in the show, so I don't think it's _too_ out of left field. Still, loved to hear your thoughts!**

**L2WF247**


	9. Chapter 9: Of Girl Talks and Hormones

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it. In this chapter that includes, Mean Girls, Runaway Bride, and Hitch. These are small, probably unnoticeable but I need to state it anyways.**

**FF Summary: One night Helga thought would be of no consequence ends up changing her and Arnold's life forever.**

**Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.**

**This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!**

**Warnings: This will be rated high T for content, language and mild adult situations. It may be bumped up to an M rating for later chapters.**

* * *

**WARNING!  
**

**This chapter is rated M:  
**

**for:  
**

**Adult Content  
**

**Sexuality  
**

****It is at the end of the chapter, so if it isn't what you're interested in, please feel free to just end there :)

* * *

****Chapter 9

Of Girl Talks and Hormones

* * *

**Monday morning; first hour. Nine weeks pregnant.**

Helga was seriously concerned.

Over the past week, she has begun to worry about both her sanity and Arnold's well being.

Living with him in such close proximity is just _entirely _too dangerous.

Good _grief_, especially **now**!

She's lucky if she can go ten _seconds _without thinking about sex these days. And not even just about **Arnold**! But about, like…_other _people! She checked out _Gerald _the other day.

_**Gerald**_.

She thought she was going to puke. Which led to her actually puking.

Like, _seriously_! What the deuce is going _on _with her? Yeah, the hormones are all crazy right now, but Helga Googled around and saw that the sex thing usually kicks in during the second trimester. She's still in her first!

She mentally groans, 'Good _Lord_, if this is how I am _now_, there's no **telling **what I may do to him come 2nd trimester!'

It just wasn't fair. Really, it just _wasn't_.

She's _supposed _to feel miserable all the time. The whole flip-flopping of feeling like crap to feeling like a hot, dirty-minded mess was getting exhausting.

Sometimes, she felt like she really would just end up jumping him. And wouldn't _that _be a fun one to explain to him? Besides, Arnold would get all…_Arnold _on her and think sex is hardly the best thing to be doing right now.

Not that that's _true_. Helga's internet search had brought up more than just what to _expect _with hormones…but how to _deal _with them. So, sex was a perfectly acceptable thing to do whilst pregnant.

She almost wished it **weren't**. Then, it'd be much easier to ignore these urges if it was bad for the baby.

Helga glared at Arnold, who was studiously taking notes from the PowerPoint.

'Stupid Football Head.'

And _yet_…she couldn't **help **but notice the discreet movement of his shoulder muscles from beneath his shirt. The way she could just catch a glance of his dreamy profile when he looked up. How his shirt sleeve moved slightly over the skin of his bicep as he wrote his notes.

_God_, the things she just wanted to **do **to him. Some of which she was almost sure were illegal.

_Crimeny_, if she were a guy she'd have _embarrassed _herself by now with a massive bo-

"Miss Pataki?" Came a slightly irritated voice.

"_Huh_?"

The face of her teacher was not amused, "What was I just talking about?"

After a moment of staring, Helga gave her an uninterested look, "I honestly have _no _idea."

The teacher sniffed disapprovingly, "Then I _suggest _you pay attention instead of _staring _aimlessly into space."

"Sure thing," Helga muttered. She noted Arnold's annoyed glare to the teacher's back before he glanced over at her, and raised an eyebrow.

Helga dismissed him with a roll of her eyes as she tried…_really_, she did _try_, to think about anything else but his face and the body attached to it.

* * *

**Wednesday afternoon; passing before last period.**

Helga walked into the girl's bathroom and was immediately greeted by an unwanted sight.

"Ugh, _finally_!" Rhonda exclaimed dramatically, as she put away her phone, "Do you have _any_ idea how many times I've tried to catch you in here? You've changed your pee schedule," she finished with her hand on her hips. The teen flipped her raven hair, "I've been trying to talk to you for _days_ now, but it proved far more difficult-

"I don't have anything to say to you, Princess," Helga snarled and turned to leave.

"No, wait!" Rhonda called out and made a grab for the blonde's arm.

Helga sneered as she pulled her arm back roughly, "Why the hell should I?"

"Because I want to apologize," Rhonda pleaded.

Helga raised an eyebrow, "You're telling me sorry _now_? After over a _week _has passed-

"_You_ of all people ought to know that pride is a bitter pill to swallow. Sometimes it takes a few tries," Rhonda said as she glanced at her nails.

Helga rolled her eyes, "The is the first I'm hearing of it."

Rhonda frowned at her, "I _told_ you, I _tried_ catching you in here, but you weren't coming in when-

"_Crimeny_, Rhonda! Why didn't you just text me, or-

"_Because, _this needed to be done in person."

Helga waited a beat before crossing her arms, "Well?"

Rhonda sighed, "Look, Arnold did his thing and made me feel horrible for it," she glanced over at Helga, "I actually believed some chick over someone I've known since, like, preschool. _Ugh_, that Tara girl used fake tears on _me_! I mean, I practically _invented_ that!" Rhonda huffed before composing herself, "Anyway, it turns out _she_ was the one who hooked up with Bass. I guess she just wanted attention."

Helga snorted, "What _is_ it with girl's slutting it up to get attention?"

Rhonda snickered, "I _know_, right? Like, _hello_, Girl's Gone Wild is _so _1990s!"

A brief chuckle was shared and Rhonda tapped her red pumps against the restroom tile, "Arnold never believed it for a second, of course," she looked directly at the blonde, "He told me he was _disappointed in me_."

"Yikes," Helga offered with a bit of pity.

The raven haired teen nodded, "It's like…worse than when my parents say it. Well, at least, how I'd _imagine_ they would say it. They adore me, so…" she quickly amended with a shrug of her shoulders before standing straight and looking seriously at Helga, "But, the point is… that I'm sorry, Helga. For **all **of this. We may not be…_friends_, exactly but we **do **have a lot of history together, and I should have never been a part of this the way I was," as Helga only stared at her with wide eyes, Rhonda shrugged again and smirked, "What can I say? You're the Janice to my Regina."

Helga chuckled, "Yeah, I guess that sums it up pretty nicely, Rhonda-loid."

* * *

**Friday afternoon; after last period.**

"Hey, man. What are your plans for the weekend?" Gerald asked as he leaned against Arnold's locker.

The blonde shrugged, "Aside from working on that English paper and math? Nothing really. What about-

"Hey, Hair Boy," Helga shoved her book bag into his hands, "I'm going to Phoebe's for dinner tonight."

She had made a point to half shove him to the side as she marched passed.

Gerald called out, "Wait, Phoebe and I had _plans_ tonight-

"Not anymore, ya don't!" She tossed back with barely a glance.

Gerald scowled, "Well, pregnancy is certainly agreeing with her," he looked over at his friend, "And you seriously live with that?"

Arnold sighed as he hefted up both bags and shut his locker, "She's not that bad all the time. This week has been…_challenging_, I guess though. I don't know what's gotten into her, but I mean c'mon Gerald-she _is _pregnant."

"Yeah, well what's her excuse for the last decade, then?"

Arnold rolled his eyes, "Hopefully this is just a phase that will pass soon."

* * *

"I can't take it anymore, Phoebes! I literally want sex **all** the _time_. I'm…I'm almost to sexually charged to function!" Helga huffed before collapsing on her friend's bed, "What am I supposed to do? I must have been **insane **for agreeing to live with him. _Crimeny_, what _good_ did I think would come of sharing the effing _bed_ with him?" Helga sat up and tugged at her hair, " And, _ugh_, would it kill him to maybe throw me a _bone_ and do _something_ that reassures me he has any similar problems? I mean, _sheesh_!"

Phoebe cleared her throat, "So, you _want _to have sex with Arnold?"

"_**Phoebe**_!"

"What?"

The blonde's face was stained red, "What do you _mean_, **what**?"

"Helga, from what I understand, you seem to genuinely be suffering from these urges. Urges that will certainly only grow stronger as this pregnancy continues. And living together in such close proximity is not going to help this situation at all."

Helga raised a brow, "Was there a _solution _hidden in all of that already established situation?"

"Well, why don't you try…talking to him about this?"

"_What_?" Helga asked shockingly, "Are you _nuts_, Phoebe?"

"Helga, he could very well-

"Spontaneously _combust_ from shock! This is _Arnold_ we're talking about here! He's not some kind of horn dog-

"Perhaps not, but he _is _a teenage male, so the chances are extremely high that he might be having similar problems, too. Or, simply being the gentleman that he is, would not necessarily think of you like that in a conscious way since he figures you really don't like him all that much."

"Oh, come _on_, _Phoebe_! All talking to Arnold about having sex will do is make him even _more_ unlikely to want it! He'll avoid it like the plague!"

"_But_, actually putting it out there in the open _may_ just cause him to give it some thought! He'll know that _you're_ thinking about it, which will make him more aware of the whole situation, which _may _make him want it too!"

Helga opened her mouth to speak before suddenly pausing and looking curiously over at her friend, "Wait, how come you're so gung ho for me getting laid?"

Despite the blush rising to her cheeks, Phoebe replied, "I'm just looking at the big picture, Helga. The worst thing you can do for the baby is feel stressed and uncomfortable all the time. Sex is a healthy way to release stress, for _both _of the expectant parents."

Helga dropped her shoulders, "Huh…I guess when you put it that way…"

Phoebe's mom called out that dinner was ready, and the dark haired teen stood up, "So, you're going to try talking to him about it?"

Helga smirked, "You know, I think I just might."

* * *

Phoebe had dropped Helga off at the Boarding House around 8:00 that night, and the blonde was already feeling wiped.

But, she was determined.

She made her way inside and when she was stopped by Stella, she let her know she was going up for the night and that she'd see her tomorrow.

As Helga made her way up the attic stairs, she felt her heart pounding wildly in her chest. She opened up the door and saw Arnold sitting at his desk in his pajamas, pencil in hand, and working on whatever assignment was in front of him.

She shut the door and flipped the lock. Clearing her throat, "Um, Arnold?"

Arnold glanced up briefly and gave a quick grin, "Hey, Helga. Did you have a good time at Phoebe's?"

"Yep, sure did," Helga responded and watched him return back to his work. Taking a deep breath and putting on an air of nonchalance, she said, "Hey, Arnold?"

"Hm, yeah?" the blonde offered with out looking up.

"I was thinking that…we should have sex," she finished casually, even though her heart was racing.

The distinct sound of Arnold's pencil snapping seemed as loud as a gunshot, and he whirled around in his chair to look over at her with eyes as wide as saucers, "What…did you just- did, you say…?"

"For God's sake, Arnold get a hold of yourself! It's not like this is the first time this conversation has happened," Helga crossed her arms and shrugged.

"You mean that- you did this…" Arnold shook his head rapidly, as if to clear his thoughts before addressing her again, "Helga. Why on _earth_ are you even bringing this up? _Where_ is this even _coming_ from? This past week, you haven't wanted much to do with me."

"_Oh_, believe me Arnold, there isn't much I _haven't _wanted to do with you," she said sardonically.

The blush on Arnold's face was getting increasingly darker, "I'm sorry, _what_?"

Helga's cool demeanor dropped instantly, and she faced him with near desperation, "Arnold, I am going _insane_. Seriously, **all **I think about these days is _sex_. I've turned into this tingling mass of nerves, and its _all_ the _time_! And its not even just you!" Helga exclaimed as she paced around the room, while Arnold sat rigidly in his chair.

"What?"

Helga shook her head, "Its like, every male I see turns me on for apparently no reason! And then _living _with one? God, it's sheer _torture_! I'm constantly bombarded by these thoughts and fantasies of wanting to _do _anything male that moves!"

At this, Arnold frowned and raised a brow, "Anything _male_ that _moves_?"

Helga stopped her pacing and looked over at him, while offering a shrug, "Well, you know…as opposed to certain kinds of coral."

Arnold gave her an unimpressed look, "Uh huh."

Helga sighed, "Look, Arnold I'm seriously going crazy here with all these hormones and emotions. Sex is totally okay for pregnant woman, and like it or not, this sex drive is only going to get bigger come this next trimester. I am _begging_ you to have sex with me. If that doesn't show I'm desperate enough then I don't know what else to do."

Arnold considered Helga for a moment before fixing her with a slanted look. He crossed his arms, "You know, and this might just be me," he offered a sarcastic smirk, "but most guys probably don't want to hear from the girl _propositioning_ them that they are thinking about sex with just about any guy in a 10 mile radius."

"But, I honestly can't help it!" Helga defended, "Those thoughts just pop up before-

Arnold held up a hand, "See? You're doing it again!"

Helga dropped her hands to her sides and stomped a foot, "Well, I'm _sorry_, _Football Head_! But I mean, come _on_, I was literally _begging_ you to have **sex** with me! Most guys don't mind **that**!"

Arnold gave a shrug, "And I'm one of those guys. But, considering everything _else _you were saying? Yeah, sorry but that just…doesn't do it for me," Arnold almost spat.

Helga nearly groaned, "What do you want, then?"

"Well, for starters, how about not hearing you go on about how I'm just grouped in with any other guy on the street you happen to see? You're asking me to sleep with you, but tomorrow what would stop you from fantasizing about some random dude?" Arnold asked heatedly.

"Arnold, you're being ridiculous! I _live _with you! _Obviously_, I think about sex with you a lot more often then anybody else!"

"Alright, that's a _little _better," Arnold retorted with a sardonic, cheerful grin.

Helga gave an exasperated groan before approaching Arnold, "_What_? _What _do you want to hear? How many times an _hour_ I think of getting my hands on you? That I think you're gorgeous? That you're stupid smile makes me want to just…_jump_ you half the time? That seeing even the slightest hint of muscle moving beneath your shirt gets me so incredibly _hot_?" Helga looked him directly in the eyes as she hovered over him, "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Arnold found it was hard to breathe, "That…seems to be doing it for me." He saw he glance down and before looking back up at him, and he shot up out of his seat. For a moment they were close, _too_ close, "Okay," he said before quickly moving away from and started pacing, "Okay, okay, just _wait _a minute here." Arnold stopped pacing and looked over at Helga, "Do you have _any _idea what you're asking of me?"

Helga looked around awkwardly, "I'm asking you to…put it to me."

"_Helga_!"

"What! I _thought_ I had made it pretty clear what I want!"

"Yeah, what _you _want!"

Helga raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "You _don't _want sex?"

Arnold dropped his shoulders and fixed her with a 'be-serious' look, "I can't _have _just sex, Helga."

"What? _Why_?"

"I'm just…_too _old fashioned. Maybe some guys would be totally on board with meaningless sex, but I'm not one of them."

Helga sighed and looked away, crossing her arms, "And I already said I don't want us being some kind of _couple_ because of the baby."

Arnold nodded, "But, if we were to sleep together, _I'd _need that," he took a deep, steadying breath, "How about…look, what if when we're up here and it's just us, things are a little different?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what if we just…look I can't sleep with you without some sort of…well, romance. If you're idea of us having sex is just…just-

"Hit it and quit it?" Helga offered with an arched brow.

Arnold blushed and frowned at her, "For lack of a better term, yes. So, if _that's_ what your idea was, then I can't do that."

Helga looked wary, but inside she was hopeful, "Look, I can't commit to full on '_love making_,' Football Head."

Arnold put his hands up, "No, I get that. But, something in the middle. Something that, isn't just meaningless sex. I mean," Arnold gave a tired shrug, "we've known each other too long for anything to be meaningless between us, right?"

Helga shuffled her feet a little and offered a small smile, "Right."

Arnold returned it, "Okay."

The two stood there in an awkward silence for a moment, before Helga glanced up at Arnold, "_So_, does this mean that…we're going to do this?"

Arnold avoided Helga's gaze, and nodded, "Yep."

Helga couldn't help but instantly straighten, "Great! Let's get started!"

Arnold whipped his head to face her, "What, you mean…_now_?"

Helga shrugged, "Ain't no time like the present, Hair Boy."

"Uh, well…I guess-

"I'll go change!"

"Change?" Arnold questioned, "But…Helga, you _do _realize that clothes aren't really necessary for this, right?"

Helga gave him a slanted look, "Yeah, well I'm not really _comfortable _with being completely naked, okay?"

Arnold looked at her incredulously, "Oh, what but _I _have to be naked?"

"Hey," Helga snapped as she pulled open the closet door, "I just need to keep something…_on _me the whole time, alright? It's a self-conscious thing. I just don't want it all the way off, or nothing. Got it?"

Arnold rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say."

After Helga went into the closet to change Arnold went to sit on the edge of his bed before his knees finally decided to give out. He rubbed his hand over his face, and when he heard the door open he looked over and he felt his jaw go slack.

Helga wore a simple, light pink, cotton nightie, and he couldn't help but stare, "What…where did you-what, you just had that lying around?"

Helga snorted, even though she was a bundle of nerves, "Oh please, _every_ girl has some form of a nightie. And if she says she doesn't, she's lying."

She took a deep breath as she made her way over to Arnold and straddled his lap. She leaned her head towards his, but he lightly gripped her shoulders.

"Wait!"

Helga slightly pouted without even realizing it, "Changed your mind?"

Arnold shook his head, "No, it's just…," he sighed, "You _always_ kiss me first," when all she did was look at him, he shrugged, "I'd like to maybe take the lead for once."

Helga cast him a hesitant look, "I'm not sure I do so well when I'm not in charge."

Arnold smirked, "I think you're just going to have to get used to that."

Helga scowled, "Oh really?"

Arnold's smirk was replaced with a look that made Helga shiver. Arnold dropped his hands from her shoulders to her hips, but his eyes were locked on hers, "Tell me again, Helga. What do you want?" He asked, his voice huskier than she's ever heard before.

Her mouth was instantly dry, and she felt Goosebumps rise all over her body. She licked her lips without even thinking before managing to use what breath she had to answer him, "I want you, Arnold."

His mouth was on hers within an instant, and already he was coaxing hers for entrance. She eagerly granted it, and as their tongues fought each other, she looped her arms around his neck and pulled herself to him so they where chest to chest.

God help her, she was already moaning and his hands weren't even on her skin yet. They wrapped around her lower back and held her tightly to him, drawing her further onto his lap and creating a delicious friction that made him release a deep moan of his own.

Helga began to move her hips to keep that friction going, but Arnold dragged a hand to the back of her neck and turned them to lower them down to the mattress, using his other hand to pull her leg up against his hip.

His lips began a journey from her mouth to her jaw line, and then to her neck. Helga had to fight to keep from crying out, so instead only breathy squeals came out. When Arnold lightly nipped at her collarbone, Helga decided she needed to get her hands on him and she began tugging at the bottom of his shirt. Noticing what she was attempting to do, Arnold sat up so that she could finish the job. With his shirt discarded, Arnold cupped Helga's face again to pull her lips back to his, and Helga ran her hands down his bare chest all the way down to his hips where she let her nails lightly dig in. She felt Arnold shudder and with a moan of triumph she pressed herself closer to him, and he could feel her nipples strained against the fabric of the nightie against his chest.

With a low growl, he lowered back down on the mattress, his mouth devouring hers, and his hand gripped the back of a thigh. He left her mouth, and he heard her make a noise of disappointment before his mouth was at the pulse point of her throat, and his hand was slowly working its way up her thigh, pushing the material up.

Helga mewled and arched her back, running her hands down his own. She could feel him, hard and hot against her thigh, and then his hand was going so agonizingly slow and his mouth was making her writhe. She bit her lip to keep from crying out, but even as Arnold's hand pushed the fabric up a little more, she didn't know how much longer she could take this.

"_Arnold_," She practically whimpered, "_Arnold, __**please**__. I…I need…_"

Arnold pulled from her neck, "You need…?"

She shuddered at the lowness of his voice. She closed her eyes tightly and gripped her hair in desperation, "Oh, _God_ I just need you to….Arnold _please, _just…"

She couldn't even finish asking, and the sudden movement of Arnold's hand on her thigh had her bending it at the knee, and she arched her back again. She opened her eyes and locked them with Arnold's green ones that looked so dark and hungry it made her shudder. He bent down and kissed her deeply, seducing her simply with his mouth, and his other hand slid down her side, slightly grazing her breast, brushing across her hip and down to her other thigh. He dragged her leg out as he slid his hand partially beneath the material.

His lips left hers, and Helga felt almost drunk from it. Her mouth felt swollen and so wonderfully used that she purred. Yet, a moment later, she gasped loudly as she felt Arnold's lips against her inner thigh. When his teeth grazed the flesh, she dragged her hands through her hair.

"_Oh my God_," She moaned.

"My God, too," Arnold commented, and his breath was so close to her center, she jerked.

Her eyes flew wide open as she looked down at Arnold, his eyes drooped in a half-lidded gaze.

There was a dangerous smirk on his face, "So, you decided to go Commando?"

Helga blushed, "I figured it would just…make things easier," She managed.

"Oh, without a doubt," Arnold remarked, huskily, "Now, just be sure to let me know how I'm doing."

Helga half laughed, "Well, if you couldn't tell already-_Oh my __**God**_!"

Helga couldn't help the moan the came out of her as Arnold slid his finger over her. Letting loose a groan of his own, he slipped a finger into her folds and felt the slick, wet heat of her tighten around one digit, and then two.

Helga writhed in pleasure, and Arnold used his other hand to steady her as he continued to slowly discover her. So slowly, that Helga was dangling on the edge of her climax, only to drop far enough away from it to feel like she just might go insane.

When she felt Arnold's mouth on her thigh again, dangerously close to where she desperately needed him, she felt she might explode before he ever even got to it.

Finally, his mouth was on her and she bit her lip to stop the loud cry that wanted to come out. Strangled moans and breathy mewls were what managed to escape her mouth as Arnold's own mouth and tongue drove her up and up until her climax ripped through her on a seemingly endless wave of pleasure, and then all she could do was moan his name.

Even as after shocks still racked her body, Arnold was pulling her legs up so her hips were flush against his, and she could feel the length of him through his pants. She heard him growl from deep in his throat.

"_Jesus_, _Helga," _Arnold murmured against her throat and then bit down, inciting another moan from her, "This might be one of the best ideas you've ever had."

Helga gave a breathy laugh, "And you haven't even finished yet," she said as she lazily ran a hand up and down his back.

"No, I certainly haven't," he replied as his hand cupped her breast and his thumb rubbed over her erect nipple.

The moan Helga released was swallowed as Arnold captured her lips with his own. Helga wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling more hot and ready and _needing_ him to be inside her already. Her hands grabbed at the waistband of his pants, and Arnold helped in tugging them off.

"Now," Helga demanded breathlessly before gripping the length of him, "It needs to be now."

"Yes," Arnold managed to choke out, settling himself between her legs.

Helga guided him to her, and he tried desperately to concentrate on taking it as slow as he could manage, but then she was surrounding him in hot, liquid velvet and it took all of his control not to let go right then and there.

Helga purred at the feeling of him filling her, and Arnold looped her legs under his arms to raise them higher up, and Helga only moaned in thanks.

Slowly, Arnold began to thrust and Helga tried to match the pace he had set, and before long the two had a steady rhythm going. It didn't take long for Arnold to feel like he would be reaching that peak soon, and from the looks and sound of it, Helga was approaching it as well.

Arnold freed up one of her legs, so that his free hand could slide down to Helga's center. It messed up their rhythm a bit, but the moment he found the spot, Helga came in a great wave of shock and pleasure, and he bent down to capture her cries of pleasure as he picked up the pace again of his thrusts. As she rode out the climax, she tightened so agonizingly perfect around him and with a few more pumps, he came and Helga's name fell off his lips before he pressed them to hers and then rested his forehead on her shoulder.

He felt like he had run a full marathon, but felt gloriously relaxed. Arnold finally noticed his arms felt like jelly, and not wanting to crush Helga, he slipped out of her and rolled to the side.

They both laid there for a few moments, before Helga slipped under the bed sheets and looked over at Arnold, who seemed half asleep already.

"Hey, Love Man? Don't you need to go turn off the lights?"

"Hmm?" Arnold stretched before grabbing his sleep pants from the foot of the bed and pulling them on.

"The lights, lover boy," Helga rolled her eyes, but her tone was light.

"Oh, right," he yawned and merely reached over Helga to grab the remote on the nightstand. After pushing a couple buttons, the room was shrouded in darkness, and Arnold set the remote back in place before sliding under the covers himself. He pulled Helga to him so that they were spooning, and laid his hand gently over her belly, rubbing his thumb in light circles.

Helga's nerves danced, and she sighed contentedly, "Figures you'd be a cuddler after sex, Football Head."

She felt him chuckle, hold her a little closer, "Goodnight Helga."

"…Goodnight, Arnold."

* * *

**Alright! There you have it, folks! I tried to be both realistic, but still...satisfying. And before anyone tries to tell me Arnold was out of character during the love scene, I'd like to remind you of the April Fool's episode. This boy has got a dark side. Plus, he and Helga are soul mates so obviously I'm going to make this a little bit more fantastical than is probably likely.**

**SORRY it took so long getting this chapter out! I knew it was going to be a doozy, and I've been rather busy lately so I just never had any time. **

**And, part of what I was so busy with was...I got engaged! Yep, still friggin' excited about that. **

**Anyways, I will try and get the next part out soon! Love to hear feedback from you guys!**

**L2WF247**


	10. Chapter 10: Of Holidays and

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.

**FF Summary**: One night Helga thought would be of no consequence ends up changing her and Arnold's life forever.

**Story Summary**: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.

This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!

* * *

** This story is now officially rated M, as per request of one of the readers. So, anything goes people!**

**Also, please be aware that there are a few time jumps in this chapter, and there will be more in the chapters to follow. This story is winding down, but don't worry, there is going to be a sequel.**

**ALSO, also: Be sure to check out my companion collection of drabbles/oneshots for this story. If I don't update this for a while, or will be too busy to, I will try and post something to help lighten the gap between updates on that. The story is called From the Pitcher's Mound.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Ten:**

**"Of Holidays and Picture Frames"**

* * *

**Monday; 8:03am. 10 weeks pregnant.**

"Hey man, how was your weekend?" Gerald asked as he leaned beside his friend's locker.

Arnold visibly tensed as he chose his words carefully, "_Uh_…it was great? Very, um…_productive_."

"_Really_?" Gerald quirked a brow, "After the kind of mood Helga was in?"

"_Especially_ because of the mood Helga was in," Arnold muttered, receiving a strange look from Gerald. Stumbling, Arnold quickly offered, "I mean, it was because of her…_behavior_ lately that we, uh…_discussed_ things very," Arnold paused, searching for the right word, "um, very _thoroughly_."

"And what was the problem in the _first _place?"

"Hormones," Arnold answered without missing a beat.

"_Sheesh_, is that gonna be her excuse for _everything_?" Gerald wondered. When all Arnold did was shrug, Gerald shook his head, "Well, as long as she ain't comin' after ya, I guess it isn't _so _bad."

"Of course she isn't, but that's just common courtesy," Arnold quipped distractedly as he shouldered his backpack.

"Wait, _what_?"

"What?" Arnold returned, as they both seemingly played it back in their heads. As realization dawned on both of them, both pairs of eyes grew wide, "Gerald, just…don't-it's not, I mean-

"_No, no, no,_ **no**, come _on_ man! Don't tell me you are _actually_…!" Gerald trailed off, unable to finish his sentence before covering his face in dismay and leaning onto an unoccupied locker.

"Alright I won't," Arnold replied hurriedly as he attempted to get his best friend moving again.

Gerald gave a look of disgust, "_Dude_, do you have like, serious _thrill_ issues or something? Have you lost touch with _reality_? Is this pregnancy getting to you?"

"Yeah, okay _yes_," Arnold whispered harshly, "I'm constantly around this hot chick, day _and_ night, in _very_ close proximity and so when the opportunity presents itself that the two of us can maybe get a _little_ something out of this arrangement, I jump on it. _So_, if that makes me _crazy_, that's fine. You wanna know why? Because I got _laid_ a **lot** this past weekend, _that's _why," Arnold huffed before continuing on his way.

Gerald merely stared after him before shaking out of his shock and going after him, "Okay, okay look I'm sorry. It's just a…**big** development over the course of one weekend, that's all. And it's a little weird. I mean, you _gotta _admit that."

"Well, _yeah _but that much was obvious."

"…You know, Arnold I just gotta say…" Gerald trailed off.

Arnold rolled his eyes, "Just say it."

"**You** are a _bold_ kid, Arnold. A _bold _kid."

* * *

**Saturday; 3:52 pm. 12 weeks pregnant.**

"_And_…ah, here we are!" Dr. Ross beamed as he gestured to the monitor, "What you're hearing is your baby's heart beat, and _boy _does it sound healthy!"

Arnold stood there grinning, "God, that's amazing. And just look at it, Helga! The little thing is _moving_."

"It really looks like a baby now, not just some sort of nut…thing," Helga said evenly. She was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that the little fetus on the screen was what was living inside her. She began to feel panic bubble up, so she cleared her throat, "Hey Doc, I gotta question for you."

"Certainly, Helga! What is it?"

"What are your suggestions in regards to sex during pregnancy?"

The arm the Arnold had been leaning on buckled, but he quickly managed to right himself, "_Helga!_"

"_What?_" Helga sniped, "_You're_ the one who keeps worrying about the baby and stuff!" Helga shifted her attention back to the doctor, "I've _tried_ explaining to him that its fine, especially since I was still in my first trimester. _But_, since the second one is starting up, I figured the belly might change things."

"_Oh my God_," Arnold groaned as he sat down and put his face in his hands.

Dr. Ross smiled good naturedly, "It a very common concern to have, Arnold and so nothing to be embarrassed about. I would recommend that as your belly expands, its better for you to be on top, Helga-

"This _can't _be happening."

"As we don't want any pressure on your abdomen. Also, since you can't lay flat on your back, for sleeping or intercourse, there is a wedge pillow that I think is very accommodating. Its specifically designed to keep you at an incline, so if you would like the option of missionary, that would be the best choice. And, as a side note, I recommend getting one of those pregnancy sleeping pillows; I hear the U-shaped one works best, as far as comfort goes."

"Sounds great to me!" Helga smirked.

"Now," Dr. Ross began, "Since the holidays are upon us, I wanted to let you know that you'll be 14 weeks about a week and a half before Christmas. There is a very good chance that we could find out the sex of the baby. Is that something you two would like?"

"Yes!"

"_No!_"

The two blondes looked at each other. Arnold giving a look of surprise, while Helga merely scowled.

"You don't want to find out what we're having?" Arnold asked.

"_No_, I _don't_," she spat.

"But…why not? I mean, we aren't really in a position of just waiting because we want to. Knowing what it is would allow us to prepare-

"Like _how_? The baby isn't gonna notice what _color_ _scheme_ its room is, or whether its wearing a _dress_ or _pants_."

"But-

"_Look_, I _don't _wanna find out, alright?" Helga snarled as she crossed her arms.

Arnold sighed and his shoulders slumped, "Okay. If it's really what you want, Helga."

* * *

**15 weeks Pregnant.**

"Why yes, Arnold! I picked out this gift card myself!" Helga mock-offered as she stood in front of the kiosk at the store, "_Crimeny_! Its _three_ days until Christmas and I _still _haven't got him anything! But what the heck are you supposed to get the father of your unborn child whom you've loved since pre-k?"

She wondered through the aisles, rejecting everything she walked past, "Video games? _Pft_, what would _Indiana_ _Jones_ need with one of those? New clothes? _Ick_, no! Who am I, his _mother_? Picture frames? _Ugh_, the ultimate cop-out."

She stood there thinking to herself for several minutes before she recalled a Christmas many years ago, where she had realized that getting someone a gift wasn't about making yourself look good. It was about giving someone something they deserved. And if anyone deserved anything, it was Arnold.

"Ugh, but what could that be!?" Helga groaned as she tugged at her hair. And a second later, it came to her.

Several minutes later, she was out the door and on her phone with Phoebe. If this didn't work out…well, maybe she could just offer Arnold some Christmas sex.

* * *

**Christmas morning.**

"So, I figured we could maybe exchange our gifts now, Football Head," Helga said as Arnold shut the door behind him.

Arnold smiled and made his way over to his closet, "Actually, I was going to suggest the same thing, considering I didn't want to have to explain my gift in front of my parents."

Helga raised a brow as she nervously fiddled with her sleep shirt, "_Oh_? And why is that?"

He pulled out a foam pillow with a bow on it, "_Ta da!_"

Helga laughed, "You got me the sex pillow!"

Arnold feigned annoyance even as a slight blush crept up, "Its called a Wedge Pillow. But, since my parents would of course asked what I got you," he tossed the pillow onto the bed before disappearing briefly back inside the closet. He then reappeared with a pink and red polka dot U-Shaped body pillow, "I got you _this _as well."

"Perfect! Though, it will make an already tight fit even tighter," Helga pointed out.

Arnold merely shrugged and set it down on the bed as well, "We'll deal with it when it gets to that point."

Helga took a deep breath before standing up, "Okay, let me go grab yours."

She went and retrieved the small bag from the nursery and came out to see Arnold sitting on the floor with his back against the bed. Joining him, she nervously bit her nail and watched only his face as he took the tissue paper out and pulled out the picture frame.

Arnold's eyes went wide and he whipped his head around to face Helga, "We're, we're having a boy?"

Helga's hands went straight to her mouth and she felt the burn of tears, "_We are?_" she managed to choke out.

Arnold did a double take from the photo, then back to her, "What…you, you didn't _know_?"

Helga let out a watery laugh, "I had Dr. Ross do all of it."

Arnold stared in shock, with a grin growing with each passing second. Alternating from looking at the picture to Helga, he laughed well, "I thought you didn't want to find out though?"

She sniffled, "I was scared to. I thought if I didn't know what was in here, then it still wasn't all real yet. But, I know how much you wanted to find out and…" She trailed off as she angled herself to get a good look at the picture. The typing on the ultrasound read, _'Merry Christmas, Daddy! Love, Your Baby Boy!' _with the baby's profile as the backdrop and two other frames offering different angles, one with the clear sign that it was indeed a boy.

She sobbed out a laugh again, "We're having a boy."

"_Helga_…"

"Mm, wait," Helga got up and headed back for the nursery. She came back out with several more bags, "I had him make up some personalized ones for your family, and one for Olga. I thought it would be fun to share it this way with them, too. But, it was mostly for you," Helga finished shyly.

"Helga, this is…the _best _gift you could have given me," Arnold assured.

Helga wiped at her eyes and chuckled, "My fall back plan would have just been Christmas sex."

The blonde gave a bark of laughter, "Well, we can always test drive that pillow later."

* * *

"Okay, so you need to open the presents at the same time," Arnold instructed to his parents and grandparents as Helga handed them the bags.

Stella eyed them suspiciously, and when they were given the go ahead, she was the first one to react.

"_Oh_! Oh my goodness!" She danced as she and her husband held the frame.

"What? What am I looking at?" Phil grumbled as he turned the frame this way and that.

"My little _boy_ is having a _baby_ boy!" Stella exclaimed as she bounded over to envelop her son in a big hug. After a moment she switched over to embrace Helga, "Oh I am just _so excited_! What a perfect surprise!"

"Congratulations, son!" Miles beamed as he gave a hug of his own, complete with sound claps on the back on both fronts.

"Atta boy, Shortman! The name lives on and the pressure is _off_," Phil exclaimed while Gertie went about popping streamer everywhere in celebration.

"Ooh, any names on the board yet?" Stella inquired.

Arnold only laughed, "Mom, we found out all of fifteen minutes ago. We're still wrapping our minds around _that_."

Stella waved it off, "Right, right, of course! Ah, I'm just so excited!"

"Happy New Year, everyone!"

* * *

"_So_, is Christmas sex still on the table or…?"

Helga snorted, "I've created a monster."

"I mean, we _do _need to make sure that pillow works."

Helga raised an eyebrow as she reclined against the wedge pillow with her arms behind her head, "You know, _just_ because we got this pillow _doesn't_ mean you get to be on top _all _the time."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Arnold joked as he held himself over her before bending down to capture her lips in a heated kiss. The excitement and emotional day crashed over them as they wound around each other.

As Arnold trailed his way down her neck to find her pulse point, he heard Helga's sound of approval, " Mm, Arnold that's-_Oh_!" Helga gave a surprised jolt.

Arnold looked up and was met with a look of shook and surprise, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I…I just felt the baby."

Arnold's eye's went widened, "_What_? You did? Are you sure?" He looked down at the seemingly still flat stomach, and let his hand hover over it.

"Yes," Helga insisted breathlessly, "I felt a very small-_oh_!" She breathed out a laugh, "I just felt him again! _Exactly _how its described; it's a little flutter, right here," Helga placed her hand over his and pressed it to her abdomen.

Arnold stared at their hands for a moment before looking back up at Helga, "Busy day," he offered quietly.

Helga smiled as she relaxed against the pillow, "_Hmm_, yeah."

"Should…should we stop?" Arnold asked, appearing very apprehensive.

Helga was silent for several moments, "Arnold…we can either break in this pillow _or _I get in some riding lessons-

"_Helga!_"

"But either way, I'm getting some tonight. So, which is it gonna be, Football Head?"

Arnold gave her a slanted look, "Well if those are the _only_ options, I'd like to get my money's worth out of that pillow."


	11. Chapter 11: Of Vetoes and Ultimatums

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.

FF Summary: One night Helga thought would be of no consequence ends up changing her and Arnold's life forever.

Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.

This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!

**Warnings:** This will be rated high T for content, language and mild adult situations. It may be bumped up to an M rating for later chapters.

So enjoy, first HA on this account, but all my old ones were crap : P

**Author's Note:** You will notice there is some Spanish in this chapter. I want to apologize if the translations are not the best. Please let me know if they are!

**ALSO:** Fun Fact is that the original name for Arnold and Helga's baby is in the chapter. Anyone wanna guess what it was?

**ALSO, ALSO:** _**TIME JUMPS** _will be happening quite frequently now! There are only two more (looooong) chapters after this one, as well as an epilogue before we start up the sequel. So, just keep that in mind, peeps!

**BAHHHH, ONE MORE ALSO:** Yes, Phil is supposed to sound like a bad Spanish speaker. Its not a typo.

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

Of Vetoes and Ultimatums

* * *

_**Time jump.**_  
**Sunday, 2:10 pm; 18 weeks pregnant.**

"Spencer?"

"No."

"Um, Terrance?"

"_Ick_."

"Bruce?"

"Not happening."

"Simon?"

"Veto."

Arnold sighed, "Helga, we might be running out of names."

"Nonsense, we haven't thought of _that_ many."

"You're right, _we_ haven't. **I** have, and **you** don't like _any_ of them!" Arnold huffed as he turned away from the computer screen, "Why don't _you_ come up with some?"

"Because _you're_ the one who wants to name the kid **now**."

"Well _excuse_ me for wanting something **personal** to share with the _baby_!"

"_What_ are you even _talking_ about?"

Arnold ran a hand through his hair, "_Look_, you are the one carrying him, so you get this connection on a totally separate level than I do. I can feel him moving around in there and know when he's awake or when things surprise him. **But**, I still don't even _get_ to feel him kick. So, when all I can call him is…well _him_, I just feel even **more** disconnected."

Helga stared at Arnold wide eyed for a moment before biting her lip, "Okay, I'm sorry. I guess its easy to forget that sort of thing when I'm constantly dealing with it," Helga placed a hand over the protruding bump, "I just…its hard for me to decide on a name when he's not even born yet. I mean, what if we decide on a name but when he's born he doesn't look like…a Simon, or something. Do we stick with it? Or do we scramble for some random name we might not even like that much?"

Arnold went and sat beside her on the bed, "Okay, how about this? We shelve the naming for now. We've still got time anyways."

Helga smiled, "Sounds good to me."

* * *

**Tuesday, 3:17pm**

"Hey grandpa, we're home!" Arnold called out as the last of the animals ran past. He and Helga set about taking their jackets off, when Phil walked in.

"Yeah, yeah just hold an _uno momento_, senior!" Phil held the phone out to his grandson, "Here, Shortman take care of this would ya? Its one of your dad's contacts from below the equator. I'd take a message but…I can't understand a _word_ this guy is saying!"

Arnold took the phone and placed a hand over the speaker, "Okay Grandpa, I'll handle it."

Helga raised a brow as she picked up her bag, but nearly fumbled it a moment later when Arnold opened his mouth to speak.

For the next few minutes, Helga listened in amazement as Arnold spoke in fluent Spanish. It was when he walked into the kitchen that Helga broke out of her trance and realized her jaw was hanging wide open. She went and peeked in and saw Arnold taking down a message, all the while still maintaining the conversation. Shortly after scribbling down the message, he said what she assumed were his goodbyes before hanging up and strolling back out to get his bag.

"You didn't need to wait for me, you know," he said as he started up the stairs with her trailing behind.

"What the _heck_ was that?" Helga managed to stutter out

Arnold tossed a glance at her over his shoulder, "What do you mean?"

"That…that phone conversation!"

"Oh," Arnold started as he opened the bedroom door for her, before following in after, "That was just one of the lead archeologists from a dig in San Lorenzo, who was trying to get in touch with dad. Nothing too exciting."

"Not _that_," Helga huffed as she dropped her bag in the middle of the floor.

Arnold, now aware of Helga's curious behavior, dropped his bag and leaned against the door, "Then what?"

Helga, now completely flustered, snapped out, "The…_Spanish_! **Where** did that _come_ from?"

Arnold gave a confused stare but and amused smile, "I kind of _had_ to learn it, Helga. We were mainly living in San Lorenzo, _South_ _America_. In that particular area of the country, Spanish is their official language. Mom and dad couldn't home school me on everything and do their jobs at the same time. So, we spent my first two years learning the language, and then I spent my last three years in a public school there."

"So…you're completely fluent in Spanish?"

Arnold shrugged, "Yeah, pretty much. I had to be. My parents were already fluent in it, so after teaching me the basics a lot of the time they would only speak to me in Spanish. Or, they'd speak English, but I'd have to respond in Spanish. Plus, a vast majority of the people they worked with only knew Spanish so I was around it all the time."

Helga stared at him for a moment, "Say something in Spanish."

"_Algo_."

Helga frowned, "What does _that_ mean?"

"It's 'something' in Spanish," Arnold smirked.

"Ha ha," Helga deadpanned, "Alright, I'll let that one slide. Lock the door."

Arnold's eyes widened, but he did as he was told, "_Really_? All because I can speak _Spanish_?"

"Oh _yeah_," Helga affirmed as she carelessly slid her panties down from under her dress.

Arnold raised an eyebrow with interest, "If I had known that speaking fluent _Spanish_ would get you to drop your panties, I'd've started speaking it _weeks_ ago."

She rolled her eyes as he walked forward and pulled her against him, "Like I've been saying…I've created a _monster_."

He only smirked as he pulled her mouth to his.

* * *

**Friday; 4:10 pm.**

This was Arnold's window of opportunity. Helga was over at Phoebe's for dinner and he had finally mustered up the courage, and the balls, to come over here and do what he had to do.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. When the door swung open, Big Bob Pataki's frame filled the doorway, and the scowl was immediate.

"_You_? What the heck are _you_ doing her, kid?"

"_Uh_, well…" Arnold gulped.

Big Bob took a step forward, "You gotta a **lot** of nerve showing up here. I'll give ya to the count of-

"Mr. Pataki, I'm only here because I thought you might want a picture of your grandson," Arnold blurted out as he shoved the ultrasound picture out in front of him.

The big man paused as he was forced to gaze down at the picture. Casting Arnold a reproachful glance, he plucked the picture from the boys grasp to look at it closer.

"The girl send ya here to do this?"

Arnold glared, "No, _Helga_ did **not** send me here. In fact, she doesn't even _know_ I'm here at all," Arnold sighed, "Look Mr. Pataki, Helga is _never_ going to cave in first. She's completely set on having nothing to do with you. That means you'll _never_ get to see or be a part of her son's life. But, he's **my** son too, and I know first hand just how important grandparents can be. I want my son to know both of his."

"Hey kid, if you're so sure the girl won't have anything to do with us, that's-

"I'm really not here to play messenger, sir. I don't want to hear your thoughts and feelings on this, because when I go and tell Helga what I did…I don't want to have to disappoint her or get her hopes up because of something you said. All I'm here to tell you is: if you want _any_ sort of relationship with your grandson, **you** have to make the first move. I _know_ Helga, and I know she'll never try and reach out for this herself. So, it _has_ to be you. That's all I wanted to say," Arnold started back down the steps, "Oh, and to give you the picture. I hope its not the only one you'll get to have. Goodnight, Mr. Pataki."

* * *

"You did _**what**_!"

"I went and gave your dad-

"_Yeah_, I _heard_ you the **first** time, you _yutz_!" Helga fumed as she paced in front of him, "**What** were you _thinking_? Who the _Hell_ do you think you **are**, _anyway_? What made you _think_ you had **any** right to go over there and pull a stunt like that?"

Arnold stood up, "Because he's _my_ son, too!" Arnold pointed to the bump protruding from her abdomen.

"Yeah, but that was _my_ father!"

"Right, the **Grandfather** of _my_ son!" Arnold said heatedly, "_Look_, I gave him the picture and told him if he ever wanted to have any sort of relationship with his grandson, he'd have to make the effort. That you wouldn't, and that he'd have to make the first move. That he'd have to try. Was that a lie?" He finished confidently.

Helga crossed her arms and huffed, "_No_, but…what did he have to say to all that?"

Arnold shrugged, "I said what I had to say and I left. That ball is in his court now," Arnold went and stood in front of her, and placed a hand on the baby bump, "I don't worry about the love and support that our baby is going to have from my family, your sister and our friends. But…my grandparents played a _huge_ role in my life. I don't want my son to miss out on the opportunity to know his mom's parents, just because we were too stubborn to ever give them a chance."

Helga ran her hands over her face before pushing her hair back and then resting them over his hand, "Okay, I…see where you're coming from. Just…just, _don't_ do something like that again. Okay? _Please_?"

Arnold cupped her face with his hands and pulled her to him for a kiss, "I won't, I promise."

Helga hummed, "Good. _Now_, how about you sweet talk me in Spanish, just in case I'm still mad at you."

"_Le hicieron la cama maravillosamente, mi feria senorita_," he finished with a sensual purr, before kissing her deeply and pulling her towards the bed. Judging by the sounds of her approval, she was complete putty in his hands.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you'd like some extras, check out my companion drabble/oneshot collection! Its called _**From the Pitcher's Mound.**_


	12. Chapter 12: Of Baby Showers and

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.

FF Summary: One night Helga thought would be of no consequence ends up changing her and Arnold's life forever.

Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.

This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough.

So enjoy, first HA on this account, but all my old ones were crap : P

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** This chapter starts off right, smack dab in the middle of something sweaty. There's your warning.

**ALSO**, this chapter has oodles of time jumps. There's two more chapters after this so, expect to see more.

* * *

**Chapter 12:**

**"Of Baby Showers and Batting Cages"**

* * *

**Time Jump.**  
**23 weeks.**

"_Oh_, oh _yes_ that's it. _Right_ there, Arnold," Helga panted.

Arnold bit his lips to keep the groan in. God, she was slowly driving him insane. And by slowly, he meant _slowly_.

Helga was riding him with a combination of caution and deliberate torture. He was losing his grip on his control, and so he had slipped his hand between her thighs to help move things along. He saw her head tip back lazily and heard the contented purr of his name fall from her lips.

"_Fuck_," he breathed without even realizing it. He heard Helga gasp and felt her nails dig into his hips. He hissed in a breath as the sensation shot straight to his groin and Helga began to rock against him with more fervor.

Arnold braced his hands on her hips in an attempt to slow pace, "Helga…_ah_, hey take it easy."

She peaked moments later and rode out the waves with an enthusiasm that sent Arnold over.

Moments passed as Helga settled down beside him, catching her own breath, and Arnold gave a breathless chuckle, "Sheesh, Helga. Why the sudden sprint to the finish? I thought you were having fun torturing me."

She hummed as she gave a shrug, "It's not everyday you hear that kind of language come from you. I guess it just does it for me."

Arnold turned his head to give her a confused stare, "What are you talking about?"

Helga faced him with a skeptical look, "You said the f-word."

Arnold's mouth dropped open and he looked at her incredulously, "I did not!"

She sat up and pointed her finger at him, "_Yes_ you did!"

He continued to shake his head in denial, "No, no _way_. There's **no** way I would say something like that!"

Helga smacked his arm, "Well you _did_! Why would I make that up?"

Arnold took in her serious expression, "I…really?"

"Yes! Really!"

"Huh," Arnold folded his hands behind his head before giving her a teasing smirk, "I guess you must be rubbing off on me, Pataki."

She huffed, "Hey! I'm not _that_ bad…anymore."

Arnold snorted, "Helga, the things you say sometimes during sex make my one time use of the f-word sound like _sweet_ _nothings_."

"Oh _please_, you're over exaggerating."

Arnold propped himself up on his side and shot her a lidded look, "Helga, you sound like the love child of a truck driver…and a sailor," he gestured with his hands.

The girl blushed as she shoved at him, "I do not!"

"I mean, there's talking dirty…and then there's talking _dirty_," Arnold continued, "And **you** Helga, are one _dirty_ talker."

"Shut up!"

* * *

**Time Jump.**  
**24 weeks.**

"Okay, I'm officially terrified."

Helga rolled her eyes, "Why? Everything looks perfect with _Jr_."

"Yeah. But he's officially considered _viable_ now."

"So?"

"So! This is where it gets…scary! We could have the baby today, and he's _viable_."

They pulled up to the boarding house and Helga unbuckled her seat belt, "You're being ridiculous."

"How are you _not_ freaking out about this?"

"Why do you _want_ me to be?"

"It's just…we don't have _anything_ for him. No clothes, no diapers, no…no _swing_! No car seat," Arnold sighed as he went to open the door, "I just feel like we're in the home stretch and we're not even prepared for the little guy."

Helga opened her mouth to comment as they stepped inside when a chorus of 'Surprise!' rang out. The boarders, Arnold's family, Olga, Phoebe, Gerald, Lila, Sheena, and Eugene were all there surrounded by various blue decorations and gifts.

Helga raised a brow at Arnold, "You were saying?"

* * *

**Time jump.**  
**24 ½ weeks.**

"Huh," Arnold pulled the Packard up behind the unfamiliar car.

"What is it?"

He and Helga both got out and headed up the stoop, "Might be a potential tenant."

Helga headed up to their room as Arnold went to find his mom. He knocked on his parents door before opening it slightly, "Hey Mom? You in here?"

"In the office sweetie!"

Arnold moved through the suite to where Stella was, "Hey is there a new tenant here?"

Stella turned around, "No, why?"

"Whose car is out front, then?"

"Oh!" She smiled, "Well, that's my new car."

Arnold raised his brows, "I didn't know you were trading in the Jeep?"

"I decided I didn't need an SUV to drive to the clinic everyday," she reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of keys, "and I didn't trade it in."

Arnold stared at the keys Stella was holding out to him, "But, why wouldn't you-

"I figured it was a better investment to give it to my son. I'd prefer my grandson to be secured in a backseat _with_ seat belts."

"I…"Arnold gently took the keys from his mom, "Thanks, Mom. Thanks a lot."

Stella laughed and gave her son a hug, "Of course, sweetie! Besides, I can't **stand** that old death trap."

* * *

**Time jump.**  
**25 weeks.**

"Oh, these little socks! How cute!"

Helga rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, "You're such a sap, Pheebs!"

The dark haired girl looked up from her spot on the floor, "Aren't you getting excited? You're a couple of weeks from your third trimester. You'll be a mom in less than _15 weeks_!"

"Yeah, that might sound like a short amount of time, but everyday with this _watermelon_ I'm carrying around feels like years. 15 weeks sounds like an _eternity_."

"And when he's born, you'll wonder where all your time went!" Phoebe chirped perkily.

"Can't wait."

The petite girl frowned, "Helga…"

The blonde waved her hand, "Don't worry, Pheebs. I…I **am** excited. I'm also scared shitless. This is me just trying not to go postal," she placed her hands on her round belly, "I really can't wait to meet the little guy…but I also don't want him to rush or anything. It's hard to explain."

Phoebe offered a smile, "It's okay, Helga. What you're feeling is perfectly normal. And I think you're handling it very well."

"Thanks, Pheebs."

"Of course! How are things with you and Arnold?"

"Well…he's alive, isn't he?"

"It certainly seems like you two are getting along fine," Phoebe shot Helga a coy glance, "And he seems rather…_relaxed_ for a soon-to-be teenage father."

Helga threw a balled baby sock at her, "That's **one** flavor of Ice-Cream we will _not_ be discussing, you!"

* * *

**Time Jump.**  
**26 weeks pregnant.**

"Well, well, well!" Dr. Ross exclaimed before pulling his hand from beneath Helga's gown.

Arnold's face was sour and his arms were crossed, "What is it?"

Dr. Ross gave Helga a cheery smile, "You're 2.5 centimeters dilated."

Arnold's arms dropped as both his and Helga's eyes bulged wide.

"_**What**_!?" Helga exclaimed.

"What does that mean? Is everything okay?" Arnold asked.

The doctor raised his arms up in a 'calm down' motion, "Everything is just peachy, kids. It's not uncommon at all. You'll probably start noticing some tightening and relaxing sensations in your uterus, Helga. These will probably just be Braxton Hicks; it's just preparing your body for labor. They're pretty painless, so if you start having them there's no need to worry." He removed his gloves and stood up, "_Now_, I will caution you about putting any real physical strain on your body. I know you want to stick it out in school as long as possible, and doing anything too active _can_ induce labor. So, anything beyond light walking, no lifting heavy things, sex, being on your feet too long…those kinds of things.

"Again, some of these are just _cautions_, not direct orders," he finished with his signature smile.

* * *

"Quit being such a girl, _Football_ _Head_!"

Arnold scowled from where he leaned on his bed, "That's not going to help your case, you know."

Helga sighed in exasperation, "He said it was a _caution_, not an _order_. C'mon, Arnold we've been _through_ this! You won't hurt the baby!"

"No, I might only evict him from his home early!"

"Oh _please_, that's really just an old wives tale!"

"_And_ a **caution**! You're already dilating!"

"Which is _normal_! _Ugh_, Arnold! Please!"

"No! As long as it's a risk, I don't want to chance it. No more sex until…what is it, like 36 weeks? 37?

"Arnold, the risk is so small, the odds of it happening-

"Are about as likely that you'll get pregnant the first time you ever have sex?" Arnold said flatly.

The blond scowled, "_Look_-

"_No_, Helga! I'm being serious about this. I'm not going to risk having my kid come early because his _parents_…uh, well," he flushed and turned his head up to face the skylight, "Yeah, I can't bring myself to finish that."

Helga rolled her eyes, "I got the point. And I _still_ think you're being a girl about this."

Arnold offered her his lidded, unamused stare, "And I'm _still_ not putting out."

* * *

**Time jump.**  
**29 weeks pregnant.**

"How's the third trimester been treating ya?" Gerald asked as he swung his bat, and sent the ball in what would've been a line drive.

Arnold, in the next cage, waited for the pitch, "I'm feeling more connected, that's for sure."

The solid sound of the ball making contact echoed as it went soaring to the back part of the net.

Gerald paused, letting a pitch go by, and gave a disgusted look, "That wasn't a euphemism for sex, was it?"

Arnold foul tipped his next one and shot Gerald an annoyed expression before righting his stance, "_No_, it _wasn't_. I meant that the little guy is all of a sudden Mr. Active in there," he hit the ball soundly before he straighten up, "Last night, he _kicked_ me while I was _sleeping_."

"So?"

"So? He kicks pretty hard for not even being _born_ yet. I thought _Helga_ had elbowed me or something."

Gerald snorted, "How do you she didn't, and ain't just blaming the baby?"

"No, she was definitely sleeping. Although, I have no idea how. The kid is a night owl."

Gerald hit the ball deep, "_Ha_, lucky you. They say they come out with a similar schedule to the one they have in the womb."

Arnold hit a grounder, "Yeah, but he's got this thing where he's awake when Helga's not doing anything, but he gets rocked to sleep when she's up and around. But, I gotta say, it's pretty cool seeing him move around in there. You'd think he's training to be an Olympic gymnast or something."

Gerald's machine light flipped off, and he leaned on his bat, "I can't believe you're almost ten weeks out from having this baby."

Arnold shrugged as he watched the ball leave the machine, feeling it connect with his bat and watching it soar to what would've easily been a homerun. His light clicked off and he straightened up, "I'm trying not to be too anxious about it. Otherwise, it'll make time drag on that much slower. I'm just taking it one day at a time, or else I'd probably start panicking."

* * *

"Sorry, I just had to finish up the dishes," Stella said as she sat on the couch beside Helga and picked up the remote.

"That's okay," Helga said quietly, "Um, actually before we start…there's something I wanted to, well, ask you."

Stella looked at the blond, "Of course, honey. You can ask me anything."

Helga bit her lip and looked down at her hands as she drummed them across her belly. She felt what she knew to be a little hand push against her fingertips, and she felt a wave of warm pleasure flush over her.

She swallowed some of her nerves down, but she kept her head down, too, "Its just…I was wondering, um about when I go into labor," She snuck a glance in Stella's direction before continuing, "You've been really wonderful to me, Stella. Not a lot of people would be so nice and understanding in this kind of situation. And, you've never treated me like…I mean, you've never made me _feel_ like you were doing this as some sort of obligation. You've always been so genuine with me," She peeked up at the brunette, "I think Arnold gets that from you, you know. He's always been that way…its like, no one had to teach it to him because he already had it in him."

"_Oh_," Stella murmured with a watery sigh, "Well that's…just about the most perfect thing you could have ever said," she said as she pulled Helga in for a hug.

Helga found tears brimming across her vision and she returned the embrace, "Being around you," she sniffled, "Being around you has made me realize what I was missing all those years."

Helga pulled back and wiped at her eyes, "I had convinced myself that I didn't even really want it. But, with you…I didn't know how much it really meant to me," she was sobbing now, and took the tissue Stella offered, "Its just, you've been _so_ great to me and, I love my sister but…she doesn't know what its like to have a baby and to be so scared. And…I wanted…Stella, you feel more like a mom to me then my own and with the baby coming soon, I just really want my mom in the room with me."

Stella smiled brightly, even as a few tears trickled down her face, and she ran her hand affection through Helga's hair, "Helga, _nothing_ would make me happier than to be in the room with you."


	13. Chapter 13: Of Ruined Shoes and

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it.

FF Summary: One night Helga thought would be of no consequence ends up changing her and Arnold's life forever.

Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.

This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!

So enjoy, first HA on this account, but all my old ones were crap : P

* * *

**Chapter 13:**

**"Of Ruined Shoes and Law Breaking"**

* * *

**Time jump.**  
**Almost 38 weeks pregnant. April 24.**

"You have everything you need, Helga?" Arnold asked as he pulled on his jacket.

"Remote and the kitchen 15 feet away? Check _and_ check."

He gave her a slanted look, "Cute."

Helga rolled her eyes as she settled more onto the couch in the living room, "Don't worry, Lila and Phoebe have been giving all the lecture notes and then some. I've been doing this for a week now, I _think_ I got it figured out. Now _beat it_, you're _bugging_ me." 

* * *

Helga was bored.

There was _nothing_ on TV, and she had gotten some of her work done but she'd been having Braxton Hicks all morning and it was really starting to _irritate_ her. They weren't bad, she felt more pressure for sure since the baby was head down, but aside from that it was mostly just annoying and uncomfortable.

"Two weeks won't go by fast enough, if you ask me," Helga hissed as she sat through another contraction.

The Braxton Hicks only persisted, but Helga managed to get some reading done for school until she heard a knock on the door. She was tempted to ignore it, but then reasoned it gave her an excuse to move around.

It took some effort, but she managed to stand up, wincing at the increase in pressure, "This baby better not have Arnold's head."

She opened the door and stared in disbelief, "_Rhonda_? What are _you_ doing here?"

The raven haired beauty shrugged, "It's lunch hour."

Helga gave her a blank look, "I meant **why** are you here?"

"Oh," Rhonda responded perkily before reaching into her purse. She pulled out a card and stepped forward, "Here, happy belated baby shower gift. Although…since the baby isn't even here yet, I'd _hardly_ say it counts as belated-

"You got us a gift?"

Rhonda turned her nose up and shrugged again, "Well, its not everyday people I've known since pre-k are on the verge of parenthood. And while you and I were not always the best of friends, we had our moments. Not to mention Arnold was the glue of our childhood."

"Right," Helga managed out through another contraction.

"Now," Rhonda began as Helga opened the envelope, "I did my research, goodness babies are a _costly_ expense, and so this gift card is for diapers _only_. I thought about getting the _cutest_ designer shoes for the baby…but then I read how quickly they grow out of things! Plus, I can claim this as my charitable donation for the year!"

Helga quirked an eyebrow, "A gift card is your…" she looked at the card and her eyes went wide, _"Four_ _years_ worth of diapers!"

"I mean, that's when they're supposed to be potty trained, right?" Rhonda asked, unphased by the number on the card.

"_Uh_…yes," Helga stuttered. She heard the telltale sounds of animals approaching and Rhonda's squeal as they were both forced to jump out of the way.

Rhonda righted herself as she faced Helga, who was still holding a look of disbelief, "You know it **is** customary to say thank you when you're given a gift."

Helga looked up at Rhonda with a dazed look, "My water just broke."

Rhonda shook her head in surprise before sputtering, "_What?_" She looked down and then moaned, "_Oh_, you **ruined** my Guicci _shoes_!"

Helga's hand gripped Rhonda's arm, "You need to get me to the hospital."

"But, why _me_?"

"Trust me, between having an old man or you drive me, it's a toss up! But you're closer, so _quit standing_ there and help me down the stairs!" Helga wheezed out as another contraction started up. After getting into the car Helga gritted out, "Drive as fast as you can without getting us killed or going into hysterics."

"_I can't promise you that!_" Rhonda squealed frantically as she drove down the street.

"Just focus on the road!" Helga breathed as se riffled through Rhonda's purse and pulled out her phone. Going through she found Arnold's number and hit send. She brought it to her ear and she heard the beginnings of his Voice Mail.

She pulled the phone away and stared at it in disbelief before her face contorted into one of pure rage.

"_**ARNOLD!**_" 

* * *

Arnold was leaning beside Gerald's locker, when he suddenly straightened. Peering around curiously before turning to his best friend, "Did…you hear something just now?"

"No. Why?"

"_Uh_, no reason."

Gerald shut his locker, "C'mon, let's go get some lunch."

They got their food and sat down at their table. Arnold had just barely started eating when Phoebe burst in and made a beeline for their table, "Arnold! Helga's in labor, you have to go!"

Arnold shot up, "**What!?** She's in…what do you _mean_ she's in labor? She's not due for two more _weeks_!" He had already made his way out of the lunchroom with Gerald and Phoebe following close behind.

"Her water broke…_why didn't you answer your phone!_" Phoebe swatted him.

"I didn't even feel it go off!" He defended as he pulled it out only to discover it had died, "Oh…oh _shit_. I, I gotta go. Holy _shit_, I have to go," he turned abruptly and went in the direction of the parking lot, "Gerald, go let the principal know, okay? Call my parents!"

He booked it to his car and flew out of the parking lot. He was lucky not to hit any red lights, and was a block away from the hospital when he saw lights flashing behind him.

"_Oh no_," he moaned.

The officer approached the window, "Son, do you realize you ran a stop sign?"

"I'm so sorry, Officer…_uh_, Warren, but I _have_ to get to the hospital. My…girlfriend is having a baby and my phone was dead and she's _probably_ going to kill me, so I have to get there right away."

The officer looked at him very closely, "You being straight with me, son?"

"Yes sir!"

"Alright, I'll give you a police escort then." 

* * *

Arnold flew out of the elevator and narrowly managed to dodge a few people waiting, "Sorry!" he threw over his shoulder as he made his way over to the desk, "I need to the room number for Helga Pataki? I'm the expectant father."

He heard a loud crash from beyond the desk, "_That's_ how I'm feeling! Now, send someone in here who won't ask me stupid _questions_!"

A moment later, a nurse scurried past with her head down.

Arnold looked back to the desk nurse and gave a sheepish smile, "_Uh_, never mind. I think I got it."

He made down the hall and saw Rhonda pop out, "_Rhonda_? What are you doing here?"

Her eyes burned holes through him, "_Leaving_! I'm walking my **ruined** Gucci shoes right out of here!" She paused before slapping him, "Next time, charge your phone!" Arnold cupped his stinging cheek as she suddenly hugged him, "And congratulations…in advance."

Arnold shook his head before continuing on and heading into the room where he saw a nurse standing hesitantly by one of the vital readers.

Helga snapped her head towards him, "_You!_"

Frozen where he was, he offered an apologetic smile, "_So_, my phone died."

"When I get my hands on you, Football Head I swear to _God_-

"Yeah, that's good!" Arnold interrupted, gesturing to her, "The Lamaze teacher said that you should focus that energy and use it for pushing-

"_Oh, shut up!_" Helga snarled before wincing and gritting her teeth.

Arnold was at her side in an instant, "Easy, there. Just breathe through it."

"God, these contractions are so _annoying_," Helga strained out before relaxing against the bed.

Arnold looked over at the nurse, "What are her contractions at?"

The nurse peered down at the readings, "They're consistently coming at about two minutes apart now. They're measuring at about a seven."

Arnold's eyes widened and he looked back down at Helga, "How are you feeling? How's the pain?"

Helga shrugged as she let out a deep breath, "It's like, an intense pressure."

The teen looked at her incredulously, "Pressure?"

She looked at him as if he was having trouble understanding her, "_Yeah_. Pressure."

Arnold looked back over to the nurse, "Are you sure that thing says 7?"

The girl nodded, "I'm positive."

The blond looked back at Helga, "And you're not in a lot of pain?"

She glared, "Well it doesn't feel _good_, _Arnoldo_!" Her face scrunched up as she hissed and leaned forward, "Its…God, its like," She let out a long, slow breath, "I feel like I need to push."

Arnold's head shot up to the nurse, and she came over to check Helga's progress, "Oh!" She pulled back, "Well, you're nine centimeters dilated Miss. Pataki."

Arnold's eyes bulged, "_Nine?_" He looked down at Helga, "Your water broke not even an _hour_ ago!"

"Oh I'm sorry, did you want to _savor_ this a little bit longer?" Helga snapped before biting her lip, "Oh God, I feel like pushing _so bad_."

"Helga!" Dr. Ross entered in cheerily, "You're here early."

"Its not like I _planned_ for this, Doc!" Helga sneered before another contraction hit and she groaned.

The doctor situated himself and checked how things were doing, "Well, this little fella is ready to come out," he put on his face mask and adjusted his gloves, "Let's get this party started, shall we? We'll start pushing on your next contraction."

"_Oh God_," Helga moaned.

"Arnold, Helga honey!" Stella came in and immediately rushed to the side opposite of Arnold.

"Just in time, Grandma! We're gonna start pushing in a just a moment. Alright, Helga?" Dr. Ross instructed.

"_Mama_," Helga whimpered as she reached out her hand for Stella to take.

"I'm here, Helga. I'm here. You're going to do _great_, honey. Arnold, grab her other leg okay? Let's give her a little help."

Arnold nodded and did as he was told. Helga's contraction came and she snatched his hand to squeeze. She was given only moments it seemed to relax before she needed to push again.

"Alright, you're a pro, Helga! We're looking at a few more good pushes here, okay?"

"Oh God, I can't do this."

"Yes you can, Helga. You're doing _so_ great, " Arnold encouraged.

"_No_," she shook her head, "I can't **do** this. I…I'm not _ready_ to be a mom yet. I just need a little more time. He was supposed to _wait_. Arnold, I don't think I can do this. I don't think I'm ready. I'm so _scared_."

"I don't think I'm ready either, but we can do this Helga. We're going to do this _together_, just like everything else. I'm scared, too. But, I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

Helga nodded, "Okay. Okay."

"You ready now?" Dr. Ross asked.

She shook her head, "No. But it looks like we're doing this anyway."

"Okay, give me a good push. That's it, now go ahead and relax for a few moments. Good, good. Alright, let's get ready for the next one. And…_push_, Helga! Great, everything is looking great. We just need _one_ more push, Helga. Okay…alright, Helga one last good push! _And_…here he is!"

The cry filled the room.

Helga relaxed against the hospital bed, and saw through a film of sweat and tears. There he was.

Arnold watched in wonder as they held up they baby and quickly went to weigh him and wipe him off, "Helga, you did it. He's here."

"Alright Helga, we're going to deliver the placenta and get you stitched up now."

"Is my baby okay?"

"Your baby is a picture of health," the nurse commented as she swaddled him in a blue blanket.

"I'll…I'm going to go deliver the news to everyone," Stella smiled. She quickly went and hugged her son, then went to kiss Helga's forehead before leaving.

"Are you ready to meet your son?" The nurse asked Arnold.

He looked uncertainly at Helga, "Oh, _um_…did you-

Helga waved her hand dismissively with a small smile, "I've been carrying him for nine months. Go ahead and have a turn."

Arnold gave a brief nod before turning towards the nurse. She smiled warmly and placed the small bundle in his arms. Arnold stared in wonderment as blue eyes stared steadily up at him, "Hey…hey there buddy," he laughed lightly, "Oh, it's so good to finally meet you. I'm your Daddy, and I love you _so_ **much**."

"Alright Helga, you're all set. You did a spectacular job," Dr. Ross smiled widely.

She smiled in return, "Thank you."

"Oh, Helga," Arnold spoke tenderly, "He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

He made his way over to her bedside and gently handed the baby over to Helga.

She gazed down at him for a few moments with the biggest smile and a trail of happy tears sliding down her cheeks, "He's perfect. He's absolutely perfect."

"So, will it be Perfect Shortman on the birth certificate?" The nurse smiled.

Arnold's smiled dropped, "Oh…crap, we forgot to think of a name. My son doesn't have a _name_!"

Helga looked closely at the baby before smiling warmly, "Henry."

Arnold's gaze shot down to her questioningly, "What?"

The new mom looked at him with a bashful expression, "I…I've always loved the name Henry. I just, I didn't want to say anything in case he didn't _look_ like a Henry. I didn't want to get my hopes up."

Arnold stared at her and then looked down at his son, "_Henry_," he said slowly, and a moment later a grin appeared on his face. He nodded, "Henry. He couldn't be anything else but a Henry," he looked up at the nurse, "Henry Miles Shortman-Pataki-

"No."

Arnold peered curiously at Helga, "_Uh_, Pataki-Shortman then?"

"Just…Shortman."

His eyes widened, "But, Helga-

"_Look_, aside from the whole obvious issue I have with my parents, I also just don't want to complicate things further with a hyphened name. Besides," she stared down at her baby boy's wide eyed face, "He's a Shortman. Simple as that."

"If it's what you want…"

"Then that settles it, then."

The nurse made record of it and left the three to themselves for a moment.

"I can't believe how alert he is," Arnold whispered as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Well, there's a lot to see now," Helga gushed.

Arnold smiled softly at her, "You did it, Helga."

"_We_ did it," she quickly amended as she looked up at him, a contented, small smile playing at her lips, before she tilted her head up slightly.

Seeing the invitation, Arnold leaned down and covered her lips with his own. They parted a moment later and held each others gaze before returning their attention to their newborn son.

Things were most certainly never going to be the same again.

* * *

**And, there you have it! I'll have The epilogue up in a few days, and hopefully the first chapter of the sequel won't be far behind! Also, there will be one more upload to the companion collection From the Pitcher's Mound.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! **

**LTWF247**


	14. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hey Arnold! Or anything else that probably sounds like you could make some money off of it. Or any of the songs listed at the bottom.

FF Summary: One night Helga thought would be of no consequence ends up changing her and Arnold's life forever.

Story Summary: Helga figured that Arnold was drunk enough to not remember anything, and she was drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But she'll soon find out that what they'd done that night isn't going to be a secret for long.

This is slightly AU, as in if things went the way C.B. had wanted, I'm changing it a little. Arnold has recently moved back from San Lorenzo with his parents after being away from Hillwood for 6 years. So he's a junior in high school now. What didn't happen was the realization of his feelings for Helga and it wasn't a class trip, only because that's a LOT of back story and this story is going to be busy enough!

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I just want to thank every single one of my readers for spending the time to look at this story I had spent **_years_ **day dreaming about before finally making it a reality. Thank you **so** much for all your support!

Now, I've gotten a couple reviews on the subject of **Arnold x Helga**. Don't worry, I **_specifically_ **did not have them end up together. That's not what this story was about. The **sequel** will deal with their romantic relationship as the main plot. There will also be a companion collection of drabbles and oneshots for that story as well.

_**ALSO**_, I have posted at the end of this chapter the story's **soundtrack**. The songs are placed in order and there is one for each chapter. They are songs that I feel go well with the story from my point of view. I recommend that you check them out!

The sequel **The Swing of Things** should be out fairly soon, along with its companion collection _From the Dugout_ pretty soon.

Enjoy this final installment of **Dropped the Ball**!

* * *

**Epilogue:**

"Of New Beginnings and Fresh Starts"

* * *

Helga's eyes fluttered open to find Arnold sitting over on his bench, holding Henry. She shifted up, wincing at the sensation in her breasts signaling Henry will want to eat soon, "How's he doing?"

Arnold glanced over, "Good. He woke up about ten minutes ago."

"No fussing?"

"Nope," he got up and made his way over to her bedside, "Just staring."

She hummed, and the contentment was evident in her voice, "Must be thinking how lucky he is to not have his father's head shape."

Arnold laughed softly, "He actually does look a lot like you though."

"God help him," Helga lightly quipped.

The young father smiled at her sincerely, "Hey, the view isn't so bad from where I'm standing."

Helga rolled her eyes, "Maybe I'm decent _now_, but I _pity_ his childhood."

Arnold edged himself onto the side of the bed, "I'm pretty sure he has your chin, and he _definitely_ has your eyes."

She hummed, "Probably just Baby Blues."

Arnold shook his head, "No way. I'd know those blue eyes anywhere. They're yours."

Helga blushed and averted her gaze, "If you say so Football Head."

"I do."

She cleared her throat and took in Henry's appearance for herself, "I see plenty of you in him, too."

"Oh yeah?"

"_Mm-hmm_. Those are your ears and your nose. And the eyes…maybe he's got my color, but he has the same shape as yours. And those lips," she smirked up at him, "I'd know those lips _anywhere_."

"Oh _yeah_?" Arnold repeated with a suggestive quirk of his brow.

Henry started squirming in Arnold's grasp, whimpering lowly.

"Oh, _now_ you're hungry?" Helga questioned in a slight baby voice as she received him from Arnold's arms.

"A little bit behind schedule," Arnold remarked as he jotted the time down on the clipboard.

"That's my boy! No one tells **my** son when to eat except him," Helga cooed.

* * *

"He should be ready for another nap pretty quick here," Arnold commented as Helga finished up feeding Henry.

Helga nodded in agreement as she gazed down at the little blonde baby in her arms.

A knock came at the door and Arnold went over to open it slightly. His eyes widened and he looked over to Helga, "_Um_, its your parents."

"_What?_" Helga said harshly, and she felt Henry shift against her in discomfort.

"Can…can they come in?" Arnold asked tentatively.

Helga sighed but gave a nod. A moment later she saw her parents for the first time in about eight months. However, what struck her was how…nervous they looked.

"Hey there…Helga," Big Bob Pataki spoke awkwardly before acknowledging Arnold with a slight nod, "Alf…_er_, Arnold."

"Mr. Pataki," the blonde returned with a nod of his own, "Mrs. Pataki."

The woman gave a tight smile, "Hello Arnold," she shifted her gaze over to Helga's, "How are you, honey? How are you feeling? How's the little one?"

"Olga told us the labor went pretty smoothly. We were glad to hear that."

"You were?" Helga spoke for the first time since they had come in.

Big Bog cleared his throat, "Yes, we were," he stood up a little straighter, "You see, the thing is, is that we've been talking with Olga for the past few months practically to hear how you were doing."

"You _were_?" Helga repeated, sounding flabbergasted.

Miriam nodded emphatically, "We…we realized, thanks to a little push from Arnold, that we didn't want to miss out on your life anymore. We didn't want to miss out on our grandson's life _either_."

"Olga said that we should wait for you to have the baby, to make sure we didn't cause you any stress."

"I…see."

"Look," Big Bob spoke a little gruffly, "Helga, I…I'm sorry for all the things I said to ya that night. I'm sorry for a _lot_ of things I've said over the years…and, well for the things I _didn't_ say. We want you to know that we'd like to maybe start over."

"Start fresh," Miriam added with eyes looking a little watery.

Helga stared at them with a hard expression, "Do you actually _mean_ all that?"

"More than anything," came Miriam's shaking reply.

"I've already cut back a little on the hours at work. Your mom and I have been meeting with a counselor that your sister recommended."

"You're…you're really serious about this?"

Big Bob nodded.

"Helga, do you think…do you think I could maybe hold him?"

Helga turned her head to Miriam with an almost sad look, "Have you had any of your smoothies today?"

Miriam winced but she gave another tight smile, "No, I haven't had a drink in 67 days."

Helga's eyes widened, "_Really?_"

The woman nodded, "I go to meetings twice a week, and talk to my sponsor every other night. We really mean it, Helga. We _want_ a second chance."

Helga gestured her mother over and handed the bundled baby over.

"_Oh_, oh he's just so _beautiful_ honey," Miriam cooed as she swayed the baby lightly.

Big Bob went and stood by her so he could get a good look for himself, "You did real good, Helga. You too, Arnold."

Arnold shifted awkwardly, but smiled, "Thank you, sir."

"And uh, sorry for the…" The man gestured weakly before dropping his hands to his sides.

Arnold waved a hand, "Don't worry about it."

"When are you cleared to leave?" Miriam asked.

When Helga didn't respond, Arnold spoke up, "_Uh_, later this afternoon, actually. They said both Helga and Henry are pictures of perfect health."

"That's good, that's real good," Big Bob commented as he shuffled a bit where he stood.

"_Um_…do you think we might be able to come by this week to visit with you and Henry?" Miriam asked hopefully.

"You want to?" Helga asked quietly.

"We'd like to, if you're alright with it Helga," Big Bob said with sincerity.

Helga gave a small smile, "I'd like that, dad."

* * *

Big Bob and Miriam approached the nurse sitting at the desk.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Big Bob answered pulling out his wallet, "I'd like to cover the bill for the Pataki-Shortman services."

* * *

**Dropped the Ball Soundtrack:**

1. She's so Mean by Matchbox Twenty  
2. Operate by Peaches  
3. Stand in the Rain by Superchick  
4. Go Your Own Way by Lissie  
5. Misery by Maroon 5  
6. Here Comes the Sun by Bob Khaleel  
7. Courage by Sarah Polley  
8. Cold Hard Bitch by Jet  
9. Desperately by Michelle Branch  
10. Vienna by Billy Joel  
11. Kiss with a Fist by Florence and the Machine  
12. Cut the Cord by Pushmonkey  
13. These Small Hours by Rob Thomas  
***Bonus Track:**  
Life in Technicolor (Instrumental) by Coldplay


End file.
